


Web-Warriors: Into the Worm-Verse

by Connelly



Category: Parahumans Series - Wildbow, Spider-Gwen (Comics), Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018)
Genre: Crossover, That's two Gwen Stacys for you actually
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-28
Updated: 2021-01-29
Packaged: 2021-02-26 22:01:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 31,395
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21596239
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Connelly/pseuds/Connelly
Summary: Gwen Stacy, the "spider with the sick burns" from Earth 65, has gone through a lot. Puppet-mastering ninjas, a prison sentence, and a multiversal war with soul-sucking super vampires. Now, as one of the few spider people capable of traveling between worlds, she's been asked to lead a group to investigate the discovery of Earth Bet, mentor an alternate younger Gwen, and find the new spider in the town of Brockton Bay. The question is, if this new spider will want anything to do with them.
Comments: 13
Kudos: 78





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I started a new thing. As you see, it's a Worm cross with Marvel's Spider-Gwen comics, with additions from the Web-Warriors comic events (Spider-Verse, Web-Warriors, and Spider-Geddon) and the Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse movie. It's intended as a more lighthearted and less work-intensive escape valve for those moments when I'm not working on To Stand Tall. It has three chapters and 14k words already, so I thought I might as well bring it here. It will, of course, spill the beans on the plots of those comics and movie, in case you fear spoilers. There are also available mirrors for your convenience at Spacebattles and Sufficient Velocity.

She looked down on her catch from her perch and sighed. 

Dressed in her black, white, and pink costume, she jumped down from the lamp post in front of the man currently wiggling inside his new spider web custom-sized onesie. Others might be forgiven for thinking it was closer to a cocoon. They would be wrong of course. Only intelligent creatures like moths used cocoons. And the gentleman was anything but intelligent. 

That didn’t stop him from noticing her at his side. “Hi, Gwen!” he exclaimed. 

“Alright, man. Real talk? Like, _real talk,_ ” Gwen said with her head uncovered, her face and shoulder-length messy blonde hair plain for anyone to see. Because who the hell kept count of secret identities by that point anyway, and especially in this economy. 

No, she wasn’t frustrated that the entire world knew her civilian identity. No sir, not at all. Uh-uh. Nope. 

Ok, maybe just a bit. The same bit that made her take the decision to attend college in a different dimension. 

Gwen crouched, both hands up as if in the middle of an explanation. “I’ll level with you. I’ve fought thugs and ninjas. I survived a war with multiversal soul-sucking immortal vampires. I had the cops raising hell after me. Another war with an army of multiversal electricity dudes. I almost lost my father to a coma. Then another war with the multiversal vampires. You might have noticed the word ‘multiversal’ a lot there. So a year in jail, receiving sucker punches from every other intern like I was a ragdoll? Doesn’t even register in comparison. You? You are just a nuisance.” 

“You saw me on the other side of the street. You saw me. I shook my head at you. _You saw me shaking my head_. A universal sign of, ‘no’, by the way.” She brought her hand to her face. “Do _not_ pass go. And still, you went ahead to rob those ice-cream sa — “ 

Suddenly realizing something, she looked below her foot. Yup, she had just stepped on an ice-cream sandwich. 

“Ew,” he said. “Sorry about that.” 

“It’s cool,” Gwen replied, as she peeled the plastic wrapper off. The sole of her costume opened up and swallowed the stuck foodstuff. 

Symbiotes. So convenient. And it was hungry, so everyone's happy. 

“Anyway, going back,” Gwen continued as she leaned back on the lamp post. “Every time you pull this crap. And every time I’m around I have to ground your ass. It’s boring and demeaning for both of us. And I’m not even going to ask how the hell you always get your father to bail you out of jail before the day ends because I suspect the answer to that question might drive me to insanity.” Finally, she threw her hands up in the air. “But why, by Kingpin’s red jerk shades, why do you keep doing this!?“ 

He blinked for a moment, as thoughts were surely put for the most insightful reply she’d ever get from such a wise man. 

Finally, he smiled. “I’m your greatest arch-nemesis!” 

Gwen stood in silence for a moment, looking at his self-satisfied expression. 

Wow, what pride, many neurons, so success, such clever. 

She had exchanged blows with the Inheritors and survived; blown a raspberry at a Electro-demigod’s plans and the security of his space orbital fortress; danced under the moonlight with the devil, excuse him, the Kingpin, and cast him down from his throne; flew across the sky of a cartoon world helped by a futuristic flying spider-pig; lost her powers, and asserted control over a damned symbiote. And fixed the multiverse through the combined powers of rock and roll and science. 

Oh, and in the span of two years, she buried half her friends six feet under. Never forget. 

And yet, this corndogs-for-brain idiot thought himself her greatest villain. 

At that point, she couldn’t resist anymore and covered his mouth with a shot of her webs. 

“You are the worst, Bodega Bandit.” Gwen shot a web line up to the lamp post and swung away from the scene. 

Landing on a roof, Gwen held the pendant hid by her costume and nicked a finger with her amulet. A portal opened in front of her, sucking the air around. She then stashed the pendant back to its place, unconcerned by the bleeding or the pain. She’d heal fast enough to not matter. 

_’My life is so stupid’_ , she thought as she jumped through the dimensional hole, leaving her homeworld of Earth 65 behind. 

* * *

“Hi guys,” Gwen called out when she came through the other side of the portal. 

From behind a computer station equipped with plenty of monitors and keyboard that she had no idea what they were for, two of her friends worked tirelessly. 

“Gwen, hi!” Octavia Otto greeted her with a smile. “So glad to see you!” The orphan girl was a version of Doctor Octopus who joined a heroic group of her world instead of turning to villainy and had now taken residence in this place after Gwen rescued her. While her green robes currently lacked the cybernetic arms typical of other Doc Octopus, she was still a genius and few people knew more about alternate dimensions than she did. 

“Hi Gwen,” Pavitr said cordially as he focused on building a small drone, dressed in a what was a fairly common blue-black and red spider costume that also included a split gray skirt. The Hindu boy had received his powers from some holy men, unlike Gwen's bite from a radioactive spider, and was an engineering prodigy who also had his fair share of experience in monitoring the multiverse. “Didn’t know you’d come here to Loomworld today.” 

Loomworld. Earth 001. The center of the multiverse, after a fashion. The cities and population of the planet were varied, a salad of different cultures across space and time as they had come from many other dimensions. Meaning it was the easiest way of seeing a cowboy in a spaceport that was servicing a sea vessel captained by a gal born in the moons of Jupiter. 

And was until recently the seat of power of the Inheritors, a family of rejects from Anne Rice’s vampire books who had spent the better part of eternity hunting and feeding on the spider people of the multiverse. And other animal people too, but particularly spiders. Well, until she and other spider buddies kicked their asses. Most of them had been cloned into babies, their impulses to feed on totems scratched out from their DNA. 

But none of that was what gave the world the name of Loomworld. That honor went to the Web of Life and Destiny, residing in a giant palace smack dab in the middle of the biggest city of this Earth. A literal web of vasts proportions, each thread representing a different universe. 

Until it was torn apart along with its guardian, Karn the Master Weaver. 

They still didn’t understand the full repercussions of that, not yet. For starters, it had rendered useless the bracelets Gwen and other spiders used to travel around universes. An alternate version of Gwen managed to forge from her bracelet an amulet attuned to her body that allowed to keep traveling, but that was just her. Some spiders have were left stranded away from home, and other worlds have been left without their spiders to guard them, having fallen in the wars against the Inheritors. And without Karn, who barely understood how it worked, they had lost the only person capable of repairing and reading the Web. 

Things were looking up, though. Among the spiders, there were some sort of mystical avatars that affected how the Web worked. The Other, the Bride, and the Scion. They lost the Other. But one of the youngest spiders, Anne, had turned out to be another one called the Patternmaker. She was now capable of repairing the Web and make it stronger. 

While communications with the bracelets were restored, it would take a long time yet for other spiders to use their bracelets to actually travel. But Anne was capable of opening new portals to and from Loomworld as needed. It allowed the spiders to keep frequenting Loomworld and guarding the Web, and Anne’s parents were really proud of her progress in her superheroing career, but they had imposed ground rules to make sure she didn’t skip her life back at their Earth. 

It seemed like today those rules were taking a backseat to other matters, though. 

“Yeah, I understand Anne wants to see me,” Gwen said. 

Pavitr nodded, returning his focus to his work. “Yeah, she went out with May and Anya for a break. They found something about the Web. A big something.” 

“Does it has to do anything with me being able to jump around worlds on my own? Because I know she can open portals too.” Gwen raised an eyebrow. “How big?” 

“Well, you know how we’ve always talked about the multiverse in infinite numbers?” Octavia said. “While Annie was repairing the Web, she found a newly added cluster…” 

“Tavia, remember that I'm a drummer Gwen, not a scientist one like the others. Or a believer in the totem mumbo jumbo like Anya. Explain it as if I was eight years old.” 

“Right. So we thought it was infinite worlds out there, yes?” Octavia turned a screen around. On it, a schematic recreating what they knew of the Web was visible; it included a count of all universes they knew something about, or at least those with a spider or more currently living in there. A smaller image of the schematic had been attached to a corner of the bigger one. “All this time, it was actually infinity _plus_ a billion.” 

“Ok. Ok,” Gwen said. “I guess the question is, how were those worlds hidden all along, and was it by accident or intentional? And are there any spiders in need of help?” 

Pavitr leaned back on his seat, leaving his work on the table, and typing in a keyboard. “Oh, there is totally a spider in one of those worlds. Anne tried to open a visual window to find them, you know, like Karn used to do, but couldn’t get a bead on them. Something in that world is interfering with our capacity to gather information. But she managed to find the location where they received their totem status.” 

A photo came up over the schematic on the screen. It was the image of a high school locker. In fact, the image was far too focused in a single locker to mean that, whoever the new spider was, got their powers in the room itself. 

Gwen raised an eyebrow in confusion, thinking about the implications. “Wait,” she said as she blinked in disbelief. “What. Seriously? You mean, _inside_ that locker? Is the locker actually made of spiders or something?” 

Gwen’s life was stupid, so it wouldn’t be surprising, she thought, if that was actually the case. After all, Spider-Ham was a spider who was bitten by a pig. With her luck, who was to say weirder things couldn’t happen? 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Which are the Marvel works being crossed with Worm here, specifically?**  
>  The Spider-Gwen series; the Spider-Verse and Spider-Geddon comic events (including the Web-Warriors mini serial that ran in between them); and the Into the Spider-Verse movie.  
>   
>  **When will you be updating this?**  
>  I want to write updates for Web-Warriors faster, shorter, and spending less time cooking them and getting them ready than what I do with To Stand Tall. But To Stand Tall remains my main focus. As such, this story will be updated Whenever™. I also write at a slow pace overall because of real life issues and how I work. Like, sloooow. Don't expect quick nor regular updates.  
>   
>  **You don't have a regular updating rate with To Stand Tall anyway...**  
>  That's not a question. :V  
>   
>  **I know. Ass.**  
>  :(  
>   
>  **What's the canon status? Is anything required to know beforehand to follow the story?**  
>  In the Marvel side, the story begins at the same time as the Ghost-Spider series, when Gwen starts traveling to 616 to attend college; future canon released by Marvel won't be used for the fic, though events in Gwen's and the Spider-Verse lore might be introduced to the fic, without guarantee.  
> In the Worm side, the story picks up after Taylor has already left home, with the stations of canon being altered but not immediately derailed with the introduction of the spider totems.  
>   
> I'm making a policy of mine to assume a reader will know nothing about any of the works I cross over. I'll try to have the backstory explained at least in passing for the commodity of the readers unfamiliar with the sources. Hopefully it shouldn't be necessary to have a passing familiarity with the sources. I'm also taking certain assumptions as to things like what the title of Patternmaker implies, so if Marvel writes again about that in the future, don't hold what I come up with here as canon.  
>   
>  **What about the Into the Spider-Verse movie? You reference it right there in the title!**  
>  The reference is just that, a silly reference and a silly pun. Movie!Miles and his world aren't a main part of the story, but other characters from the movie come up, joining the Web-Warriors in the very second chapter.  
>   
>  **Any shipping? =3**  
>  The fact you're already asking that in your mind is worrying, Connelly. In this house we respect the laws of thermoshippingnamics!  
>   
> That means no, nothing planned.  
>   
>  **Why do this on yourself?**  
>  I have a tendency of getting involved in messes too big for my own good. Please send help. Or pizza. Pizza is good and filling.  
>   
>  **I don't like the Ghost-Spider name, it's goofy!**  
>  Go tell Marvel.  
>   
>  **Goofy I say!**  
>  please sir/lady stop grabbing my arm you're hurting me  
>   
>  **GOOFY!**  
>  aaaaaaaaaaaaaa


	2. Chapter 2

“So, what do you think?” 

Standing at the top of one of the tallest buildings of this New York, Gwen lowered the old newspaper and gave a look over the city. “Well, I’d say someone asked for a bigger challenge and the universe went a bit overboard granting that wish.” 

Earth Bet, was how the locals called their tiny corner of the multiverse after they managed to open a tiny thumb-sized window to an adjacent universe they called Aleph. Classy nomenclature, but without consideration to the possibility-that-is-actually-a-fact that there were infinite universes. A numeric system like they had back home might feel pretty sterile and uninspired, but your only problem was keeping numbers manageable, not running out. 

In fact, the cluster of newly discovered worlds had received their own subcategory, and as the first world they visited, Bet had the honor of giving it its name, receiving itself the designation of BET01. Betty to friends. 

Apparently, the people of Aleph and Bet almost went to war, so Bet allowed Aleph to get the honor of getting the name with a higher alphabetical priority. Which to Gwen sounded like a pretty stupid way to start multiversal relationships. And Gwen had knocked silly an alternate version of herself. 

Ok, that sounded bad. But that alternate Gwen was crazy. Green Goblin crazy. And a previous Gwen she found was perfectly sane. And both helped her solve an acute case of dimensional location insecurity. See? Your selves of other universes can come in all colors, no need to be prejudiced! Be nice to each other! 

In any case, the possibility of dimensional travel was little more than a scientific curiosity for the people of Bet. They’ve had metahumans of some sort for just a couple of decades. 

And ooooh boy, they could have done without them. 

Countries overturned. Socio-economic collapse, ecological disasters, landmasses sunk. An all-time record in Prozac sells. 

Gwen scrunched her face in disgust. “And their fast food is disgusting,” she said as she looked at the hot dog she had just taken a bite off of. 

Seriously, what kind of sociopaths put vinaigrette on their hot dogs? 

Apparently, this version of New York had suffered some kind of a catastrophe that had destroyed the bigger part of it. Anya had been unable to find what exactly happened, beyond mentions to a battle of some sort, but whatever happened it couldn’t have been gentle because the city was unrecognizable to her. And she’s been in more than a few alternate New Yorks. The city had been rebuilt, but judging from the newspaper and Anya’s word, it didn’t seem like it was an improvement. 

Anya Corazón, Spider-Girl (one of many) from 616, and in her black costume with a white spider symbol revealing only her lower face and her long brown hair, nodded with a sad frown. “It’s a dumpster fire. I’ve crossed a good portion of the city, and there was so much trouble brewing everywhere at any time, it made home look like a vacation.” 

“Even with the nazi bee swarms?” 

Anya blinked before giving Gwen a look. “Of all the things in 616, and nazi bees are your hot take?” 

“And the underground death leisure park? Some crazy built one under the college for Peter, like, a century ago.” Gwen shrugged. “Don’t worry, it was all scrap once I was done with it.” 

Anya shook her head. “Anyway, I think I’ve only scratched the surface with this place.” 

Gwen raised an eyebrow. “Low profile?” Most spiders learned to be stealthy on their own — unless you were someone like Takuya. But she heard Anya was trained in espionage by SHIELD, and was eerily skillful at not being seen if she didn’t want to. 

“I might have stopped a couple thefts and altercations. Shot some webs and I was done without even being seen. But they weren’t your run of the mill thugs. Some were dressed as Harry Potter extras, and look at these.” Anya took a smartphone out of a pocket and passed it to Gwen. “And these looked like someone tried too hard for a Mad Max cosplay tour.” 

“I have no idea what those words mean,” Gwen said as she took the phone. 

Anya brought a hand to her face. “Why do I keep forgetting everything in your world is upside down?” 

“Hey, your world is the one where drinks have artificial sugar, not mine,” Gwen rebuked as she looked at the phone screen. It showed a bunch of webbed idiots dressed in leathers with stringed bones and teeth. “Terrible fashion sense. A gang?” 

“I checked in a library. They call themselves the Teeth. They got a bunch of metahuman lieutenants, and you can guess their tendencies from their dress code.” 

“Charming. So, spill. What did you bring me here for anyway? You must have some interest in this dump,” Gwen said as she returned the phone to Anya, who stashed it back in her pocket while Gwen took another bite off her hot dog. 

Anya waved her hand to the food. “I thought you didn’t like that?” 

Gwen munched and swallowed. “A symbiote gotta eat.” 

“Can’t it, you know, eat things by itself?” 

“A girl gotta eat too.” 

Anya’s face left clear she was rolling her eyes behind the mask, and she leaned against an air duct with her shoulder, arms crossed. “I want to reform the Web-Warriors.” 

Gwen frowned. “Anya, I thought everyone agreed we were done for now? Even if Annie has formed enough of a new Web to get people traveling. It was just a month ago that we had two funerals in a row and said our goodbyes. People left exhausted. Isn’t it too soon?” 

“We’ll start easy, because after the Inheritors everyone deserves a good long rest, and I don’t expect more than a handful of spiders to agree to any work by now. But honestly?” Anya chuckled. “I just couldn’t let it be. I had nothing better to do, so when Annie came to visit me? I thought, why not? 

“Recovering the autonomous travel between dimensions for everyone is still our biggest issue, but between Annie reforming the Web and Octavia and Pavitr working the kinks out, that’s just a matter of time. Until that’s stabilized, I was thinking of just rebuilding the cathedral in Loomworld, maybe check with the locals and see if anyone’s interested in a deal to help us…” 

“Yeah, we kept putting that off all the time, didn’t we?” Gwen muttered in agreement. “I mean, it was our base, our home. We had water and electricity, but we always left it in ruins.” 

Anya nodded. “Besides that, I wanted to make the Bet cluster a small side project of sorts.” 

“How so?” 

“Well, I wanted to take a team to keep watch in this New York, gather general intelligence, see how this world clicks, why these worlds showed up now, and if there’s a danger for others.” Anya extended a hand aside. “We also know there’s a spider in a town called Brockton Bay, up in New Hampshire, so I want another team there to support the first one and find that spider. And I wanted to ask you to be in charge of it.” 

Gwen spat the food on the roof and started coughing. 

That freaking vinaigrette. Totes seriously. 

“Yeah ok, no.” Gwen sat up and started walking away, hands up. Not like she could go anywhere without jumping off the roof, but that wasn’t the point. “No, no, nononono. I got too much on my plate already to play spies in bumfuck nowhere, Anya!” Gwen turned around and stuck up a hand, starting to count up her fingers. “My father! He just got out of a coma.” 

Anya looked up sheepishly. “Come on, Gwen…” 

A second finger. “I got a job now. It’s demeaning, badly paid, and sometimes it makes me wish I would have joined SHIELD’s little psycho black ops group. Only sometimes! But it’s mine and I need the money.” 

“Look, I get it…” 

Another finger. “Rehearsals! Every night! Have you ever had an MJ go passive-aggressive on you? You don’t want to.” 

Anya took a breath. 

“College! I can’t — ” 

“Will you just listen?” Anya said, shoving Gwen’s hands aside. “Look, I get it, you’re low on free time. Everyone is! But this isn’t going to be a full-time kind of job. It won’t be even a full week kind of thing. The only thing I need, for a few hours a week is the cop inside you.” Anya then pointed to her nose. 

By cop, Anya didn’t mean she wanted an enforcer, Gwen realized. She wanted the investigation skills she had learned from her father. 

“I’ll deal with the budget,” Anya continued above Gwen’s silence. “You are not the only one with needs. I’ll talk with SHIELD, and ask Jessica to get me a line with the Avengers. We’ll work something out so that you don’t feel the pressure in your pocket.” 

“I refused a direct offer from my SHIELD,” Gwen said, one finger pointed at Anya. “From my Captain America, and she’s pretty much the only real superhero around.” 

“It’ll be more like I’ll be working with them, and you’ll be working for me,” Anya explained. “You can’t really move money from 616 to 65, but I’m sure something can be worked out for a place they can lend for you to rest, and allowances for food. Maybe some other small conveniences.” 

Gwen narrowed her eyes. “My diet has… been revealed to be very needy.” 

Anya tilted her head with a cocky, knowing smile. “I’ll be sure to mention it. Jessica can tell you the Avengers had experience hiring symbiote hosts.” 

They stood there, glaring at each other for a while, challenging the other to be the first to give up. 

Gwen already suspected the outcome, and she knew Anya knew it. 

She ate the last of the hot dog and swallowed. 

Crap, she had her hook, line, and sink, didn’t she? 

Gwen left her arms to hang in defeat and sighed loudly. “Ok, fine, I’ll listen for now. Who’d you get aboard, for starters? Annie, I guess. Any of the original Warriors?” 

“Yeah. You already saw Pavitr and Octavia. Ham’s in as well, in fact, he’s been working with Annie to visit some of the worlds with a spider that we never visited, see if anyone’s interested, and he’s recruited a small group already. Peni is busy, but she and her uncle confirmed she will definitely answer the call again if something big enough happens.” 

“What about May? I thought she’d want to stay home for now.” 

“Yeah,” Anya confirmed. “She wasn’t sure at first but… May and Annie have a thing.” 

Gwen raised an eyebrow. “I thought May had a guy already?” 

“Not like that.” Gwen simply reacted with a smirk when Anya dope slapped her. “Their timelines are similar. Both of them have a Peter and Mary Jane as parents. The only difference is that May was followed by Benjy, and Annie was preceded by a May that didn’t…” 

Anya let the phrase hanging, and Gwen blinked. “Oh. Oh! Ok, so they want to catch up or something, I guess?” 

“Annie’s parents won’t allow her to skip classes or her civilian life, but they recognize being the Patternmaker is a big deal, so they wanted to be brought aboard too if only to support Annie.” It made sense. They were a family team. Gwen doubted they had any real time to spend in Loomworld for long, but it was understandable they’d want to be a part of their daughter’s life. 

“May’s mother is done with hero business,” Anya kept going. “She wants to know anything that may affect them or Benjy, but otherwise she doesn’t really want to get involved. So Uncle Ben will stick around.” 

Such uncle Ben wasn’t actually from May’s world. In his homeworld, he had avoided a nuclear apocalypse just by the simple quality of being a spider in his world, and after spending half a lifetime in solitude inside a bunker, he joined May’s family to feel useful again. “Damn, if they wanted an excuse for a family reunion, it’s getting a bit convoluted already.” 

“You won’t see me complain,” Anya said, walking to the edge of the roof near Gwen. “And honestly, it makes it all easier to talk and agree on ways to make things work for everyone.” 

Gwen whistled, laying down along the edge of the roof. “I can see it now already. Can’t imagine it’s fun for Annie, seeing everyone else have a say in her life.” 

“Well, she’s a high schooler.” Anya shrugged awkwardly. “She’s ecstatic with the idea of playing around in her new powers and help. Which is great, mind. But she’s still a kid.” 

“I get what you’re saying, but it wasn’t that long ago both of us had her age,” Gwen pointed out. “How do I figure in then? I can look up for that new spider, but I’m no team leader. And I’m still kind of green myself.” 

“You’ll be fine, and Octavia will be with you,” Anya reassured. “Everyone knows we’re solitary hunters by nature. I only need you to be my eyes on the new group. See the kind of people they are, how they work, look out for any ‘Superior Spider-Man’ tendencies, see if they have any real interest in being full-time members. And just take care of them. Ditto for the local when you find them.” 

A hand on her hip, and the other rubbing the back of her head, Gwen looked up, tired. “I guess you need us to start as soon as possible. When do I meet them?” 

“If they are not at the cathedral by now, they should be soon.” Anya pointed at the spot where Gwen kept the pendant under the costume and then threw a thumb over her shoulder. “Shall we go meet them?” 

Gwen went through the motions of taking the pendant and cutting one of her fingers. “Haven’t you met them already?” 

“Only one of them. Turns out they already met each other from another multidimensional crapfest; the first one has been directing Ham to the others to ask if they were interested.” The portal opened, and both women started walking towards it. “Also? You’ve gone through enough already that I would never call you ‘green’. Ever.” 

* * *

Not all of them had decided to join because of their own lives, but the new group, as it turned out to be, had met each other when some alternative Kingpin — who was some fat rich guy and not Matt Murdock. Like, they called Gwen’s world weird? — had screwed up their adjacent universes with a big gizmo. 

And although she had grown used to see a thousand and one variations of Peter Parker, this was stretching things a bit. 

The Peni Parker and her telepathic spider? Sure, she was completely opposite to the Peni that was her friend. Upbeat to the point of being almost diabetically upbeat, instead of professional and quiet, and the robo suit they piloted smaller, cute, and rounder than the large, scary, and humanoid Sp//dr that had fought alongside Gwen. But that wasn’t the weirdest part. 

The 30s Peter Parker? He was also to different from the friend Gwen knew. She suspected they both shared the same pessimistic worldview. But ‘Noir’ had been quiet and angry, while this one was dramatic and gentler. And black and white. No color at all. That was pretty weird, but Gwen has seen weirder. 

Cartoon worlds. So stupid. So awesome. 

“So, I guess this is just as weird for you as it is for me, huh?” the young girl in front of her asked. 

No. Few weirder things could happen to you than actually meeting yourself. Gwen had already experienced that several times, and it was always the peak weirdness points of her life. 

Meeting another totem version of herself, though? In the same suit she wore when she started? Younger than when she started? 

How long had this kid been doing this job, Gwen wondered. 

Did she look that serious and tired, back when she started out? 

That hopeless? 

Gwen (the older), acted as if she was in thought, rubbing her chin with her fingers as she looked over Gwen (the younger — or should she call her Gwenie? Gwensy? Gwendoline, full name? She knew she hated the way it made her feel like being called a child. They had to agree on names to differentiate one from the other). 

If the possible judgment was bothering her, the kid wasn’t showing any signs of it. Points for the self-confidence. 

“You know? Not as much as you’d think,” she replied. “Just one thing is weirding me out.” 

Her youngest self raised an eyebrow, and Gwen put a hand over her shoulder. 

Now the kid’s eyes opened in surprise. 

Oh yes, she worked hard to not show it, but she was worried. 

Gwen squeezed faintly, several times and raised her own eyebrow. 

The silent message was clear. _‘Shoulder pads? Really?’_

Now that brought a giggle and a shy smile from the younger Gwen. “Hey, I don’t exactly have the stature of a Spider- _Woman_ , do I?” she said as she moved the hand off her shoulder. 

Gwen smirked. No, it was true. While she hadn’t grown to NBA standards, she had grown tall enough to not be the smaller totem around. Three or four years sooner though, she clearly remembered it being a different story. 

“Don’t worry about that, believe me. I like the hairdo by the way,” Gwen commented. The kid had it long by her left side until her shoulder. But most of her right side was shaven, with only the top of her head long enough to be called ‘short’. “Very punkish.” 

The kid didn’t lose any time in talking back. “Compared to, what? That mess of a bedhead?” 

“Hmm, I like you.” The older Gwen turned around to look at Anya. “Can I keep her?” 


	3. Chapter 3

_'What have you done with him?!'_

"Hey. Pst. You there?" 

_'Hisss, not here, not you, not now! Away!'_

"Hey, you hear me?" 

_'Ah! What the hell! That could have killed me!'_

"Come oooon. Can't believe you're doing this…" 

_'No! Leave! Hissss! Leave me alone!'_

'To hell with it. If this house is just like mine, then maybe…" 

_'... Peter…?'_

"Here we go. Now then…" 

_'I just… just… wanted others to be special… like you…'_

"Oh cra —" 

Gwen rose up with a howl and shot. 

"Gah! Wuh thu fuh?!" 

Silence fell quickly in the room, remaining there for some time as the teenager took stock of her situation. 

She was on her bed. In her undies. Right. She went to sleep. Didn't even bother to get the pajamas. That was a logical conclusion. That's what one does with a bed. You sleep. Pajamas or no pajamas. Good logical reasoning, Gwen. A for effort. Keep going. 

Between the bed and the open window that, for a change, she did remember she hadn't opened since the previous morning, was a woman sprawled face down on the floor, unmoving. Blonde hair just like Gwen's, with a spiked black hairband, dressed in a pink loose shirt, jeans, and black high-heeled boots, and her arms crossed blocking her face from sight. Such arms were webbed together. 

Gwen looked at her own arm, extended towards the woman. Yup. She still wore her web-shooters. Yup, she had shot a web to the intruder. In her sleep. Or her waking up. It didn't matter, it was probably a technicality at this point. 

Slowly, the woman turned around until she was facing up, moving her arms to her bell, uncovering a face that Gwen knew all too well from the mirror. Well, without the freckles, her piercing, hair not half shaved, and 100% too much black lipstick. 

Yep. That was older, alternate universe Gwen. She had just webbed her adult self. In her sleep. High five, top marks. Return next week for the test results. 

The older Gwen made a disgusted face, spitting to the air. "Really? Of all the places in a room, you had to leave your sweaty socks precisely where my face lands?" 

The younger Gwen lowered her arm and looked around her room. "Huh…" 

Her older counterpart followed her look over the floor, entirely covered in all kinds of discarded clothes, open drawers, and spread miscellanea. "Nevermind. This is worse than Betty's place," she muttered and then frowned. "Which was mine too anyway… Oh hey, is that a PSX? I haven't seen one of those since I was a little monkey." 

Gwen turned to her TV setup, despite the thinly veiled distraction from the whisper-yelled admission. Conveniently covered by a few bras that had turned out to be too big for her size and never got around returning to the shop, was an old video game console that was lent to her before everything happened. And that she never used after everything happened. Hence, the convenient cover. Very clever, all in all. "Uhm, yeah. That was like, everywhere around years ago, though?" 

"Really? It sold like crap back home. The Six Four was what everyone had," Elderly Gwen said as she rose up to her feet, and walked closer to the bed, straining her hands inside the webbing. 

"You a video game nerd?" 

"Nah, just a bit curious. I was more into roleplaying. Dice and paper, dragons and wizards. That kinda thing. Lend a hand? You covered mine good, it'd be faster if you helped." 

Gwen shook her head, trying to get rid of her sleepiness. "Sorry about that." She sat up and started tearing down the web with her hands. "I wasn't really aiming. Why didn't you avoid it? You know, with your spider-sense." 

"My spider-sense is _crap_." The Most Venerable Gwen gave out an unladylike, suffering groan. "Sometimes I get enough warning to tank a hit for someone else, sometimes I get face tagged by some kid's paint spray. Everyone else can see danger coming, hell, Annie gets visions of the future, but you have no idea how many punches and swords I had to suck up and shake off. Word of advice: work on your normal situational awareness and your toughness in case you're in the same situation." The webbing was halfway broken when she gave Gwen a strange look. "Do you make a habit out of sleeping with the web-shooters?" 

"No, no. I was just tired." Gwen sighed. "A lot happened since that particle collider happened. Other heroes here picked up the slack, but people like Doc Ock and the Scorpion had been busy while I wasn't here to keep an eye on them." 

"Ok, I'm envious now. A few friends from 616 have helped me out sometimes, but there aren't a lot of superheroes in 65 to help share the load." 

"What, it's only you there?" 

"Well, the Wasp retired, and Brother Brit-Man was a thing in England like, ages ago. So it's me, Luke Cage, Captain America, Cap'tin 'Muricah Hell Yeah, and Capitana América. And Cap deals mostly with spy crap. But yeah, mostly just me and Cage." A frown. "Well, there are more, but I think most people with powers are either spies, black ops, or assholes." 

"Now I see why you'd be envious." 

"Hey, at least I wielded her shield once, so by rights I am Cap too, yo." 

"Nah, that's Mjolnir, turns you into the new Thor if it deems you worthy… I assume you don't have Thor there either?" 

"We got the Valkyries, their Mjolnir ain't magical but they use it to break jumbo-sized cheese-filled nachos on stage. My roomie had their vinyl playing half the time, they're metal af." Her world still used vinyl for their music? No wonder the PSX crashed there. The web finally broke down, freeing Decrepit Gwen's arms and allowing her to take the rest on her own. "You need help with your rogues gallery?" 

"It's fine. I solved everything I had left last night, even if…" Gwen looked up at her phone. Which wasn't on its recharging pod. She found it on her pillow, and she suspected she had slept with her face over it, judging by the drops of slobber on the screen. She took it and switched on. "Oh no. Three PM?" 

"Had a date?" 

Gwen let herself fall back on the bed, and sighed. "No. It's not even a class day. But usually, I don't oversleep this much." 

"Pfft, call me when you oversleep an entire day and you're late for everything." Geriatric Gwen finished ripping the webbing in one arm and started to do the same with the other. "But is there going to be a problem? Not with the Warriors gig, we got time until we go get the others. But like, with your dad?" 

"No, he must have eaten already and gone out to walk the beat. I'll have to check what he left for me." 

"The beat, huh?" 

"What?" Gwen said as she glanced at Crazy Gwen (ok, she ran out of adjectives, and really needed to find a better way to differentiate between them at some point beyond 'older Gwen'). 

"No, nothing." She finished ripping the webbing and made a ball with it. "Just curious at the difference. Mine is precinct captain." She looked around until she found the trash bin and threw the ball inside. "Does he know?" 

"No." Gwen propped herself up on her elbows. "I keep an eye for him, saved him once from getting shot. But I don't want him to worry, you know?" 

"Yeah." Her older counterpart nodded slowly, leaning on a bureau. "Yeah, I get it. But, listen. I went through all that already. You'll want to tell him at some point." 

"You did?" 

"Yeah. Had to. The mayor was pressuring the cops to catch me." The older Gwen saw a bear plushie on the furniture, besides a photo that was facing the wall. She started turning the toy around idly. "We were alone after the Kingpin sent a thug to hurt him. Dad had me dead to rights, facing his gun and intending to arrest me. Taking out the mask was the only way I had to show him I was on his side of the law. That I was doing all I could to honor everything that he had taught me." She left out a long breath. "It was hard, for both of us. But he supported me all the way in. It cost him a lot in lost sleep, blood, and reputation. But Captain Stacy never had a doubt to put his daughter above his badge." 

Gwen nodded, considering what she was hearing. "I'd like to. I just… I don't know. I don't want to lose him." 

"I get it. The only thing I feared more than my friends and family finding me dead on a ditch, was losing any of them." The older Gwen shook her head. "But lies… well, not lies per se. The truth. Not telling the truth, that hurts everyone. And there were more than a few moments where I almost lost everyone I cared about. Look, you don't have to do anything I say, and not now. Just, give it some thought, will ya?" 

Right. Everyone she cared. Not that Gwen had anyone else than his dad left, now that she stopped talking with the rest of the world. 

But that was what she had learned at Miles' world, right? That she wasn't alone as a spider. That, maybe, she didn't need to be alone as a person. 

"Right." Gwen nodded softly. "Yeah, I might." 

She heard the older Gwen take a breath, and realized she was looking now at the photo. Gwen felt a shiver running down her neck. 

It was the one where she and Peter were smiling, together. 

Gwen hurried up to get up and walk up the bureau, taking the photo and lay it face down. 

"I'm sorry." She turned to the older Gwen and noticed she had a strange, slightly saddened face. "It's just, well." 

"You lost him too, huh?" 

"Yup," she said softly. "Brought you bad memories?" 

"It's fine." The older Gwen shook her head. "I spent some time at first when the only multidimensional Peter I could look at the face was a _pig_. It's not so bad now, but mostly because there are more now. War does that, I guess." 

"I try not to have more than one. Here at home, at least. Is that weird?" 

"No. It's not weird. You are afraid of losing them. I was too. But my advice? Don't do that." She retrieved a pendant from under her shirt, a flat metal spider with a hole in the middle and sharp legs. "I got a ticket to the multiverse, keyed to my DNA. I have friends in at least five universes that would open their doors for me. But I know I'd go crazy without my people at home." 

"How you do it?" 

A hand touched Gwen's, both over the photo. "Can I ask? About him? How… what happened?" 

Gwen hesitated for a moment. "Peter had been my nanny since I can remember. And then, the kind of next-door friend that you look up as a big brother. He was a geek, he helped me get a grip on science for school, but he was always dragging me around to do things. I think uncle Ben and aunt May suggested that to him and dad." She let out a sad laugh. "Even things he had no experience with, like camping. He made a mess trying to set up camp. By the time I got to high school, he was a university researcher. I think…" 

She took a breath. "See, heroes here, I don't know how they are in other worlds, but all of them are bigger than life. You hear about Iron Man or Captain America, and they are this thing above the normal people… not like they patronize us or anything, there's this sense of mystique. But after the spider bite, I decided to go for the —" 

"'Friendly neighborhood Spider-Woman'," they chorused together, smiling. "Yeah. I've found most of us spiders do that. That, and the bad pun banter." 

"Yeah, closer to ground, you know. Interact with the people, pose for the selfies, that kind of thing. I told him and... I think he was awed? He grew obsessed. After he made me the web-shooters, he started talking about how all heroes should be also people and not just ideals. Maybe he got it backward at some point and started wanting others to be more themselves, I guess." Gwen closed her eyes. "That's when the Lizard showed up." 

"Peter was the Lizard." 

Gwen nodded. "Some people were found dead. I followed the track to the labs at the uni, and found him, transformed and out of his mind." A sniff. "I didn't know. I was just trying to stop him, and defend myself… But it wasn't an accident." 

The grip on her hand tightened. "My Peter was the Lizard too." Gwen looked up to her older self. "We grew together. Same age, same class group. He got bullied at school, and I protected him. He… I think he grew resentful of the world. After the bite, I used my powers as a way to have fun. I mean, yeah. I fought crime. But I was a showoff. And he got an obsession to be special too. He found about the Lizard Mutagen and tried it on himself. I found him breaking shit up on the campus and attacking people. I didn't know it was him, but when I saw that monster, I was thinking 'bully'. I got mad. I got _angry_. I shouldn't have, but I did." 

"Oh no," Gwen breathed out in horror. 

"Oh yes. I just kept beating him way past the point he couldn't even lift a hand in his defense. By the time he transformed to normal… Well. You had an excuse. I didn't. 

"After that… Dad commented that during his investigation, he never saw anyone act so full of guilt like Spider-Woman. I wasn't having a fun time. I became too focused on what Spider-Woman should do, and almost forgot what being Gwen Stacy meant." The older Gwen clicked her tongue. "It's funny. All it took to get my life back on track was to spend a year in a supermax prison. 

"And I remember thinking, even while taking the abuse from the other prisoners, all the beatings and humiliations and torture, and motherfucking SHIELD spitting in my eye offering a out of jail card in exchange to become their attack dog. That it was _too lenient_ , that I deserved more. All the pain. All the fear. All the anger. Every fucking shitty feeling everyone involved in that entire bullcrap was caught on. It all felt _so_ useless and short-sighted. And I realized I chose to be the most possibly stupid and naive person I could have been in my entire life. And — " 

Gwen couldn't stop herself. She hugged the taller girl, who shut up instantly. 

"… Whoa. Um. Not that I mind. But what's with the hugging?" 

"Huh." Gwen swallowed her head on the shoulder of her alternate self. "You were trembling. And I uh." 

"Hey." She heard whispered to her ears, feeling arms to surrounded her tightly. "Hey I know I might have gotten carried away. But it's fine. I got over it with time. Mostly." 

"Yeah. Carried away." Gwen snorted, trying to keep her own trembling at bay. 

She got hugged a bit tighter. Crap. Who the hell needed hugs the most in this room? 

How long since she spoke to her dad with anything more than the minimally needed amount of words for communication? 

Apparently not the abused ex-convict, but the loner teen with an attitude. 

How long had she gone without human contact before meeting Miles, Peter B., and the others? 

_'Friends?'_

She snuggled into the hug anyway. 

"So uh… If you are fine…? 

"Haven't they told you, kid? I'm a symbiote host. It's not a 'me' inside here." To demonstrate, the part of the pink shirt just in front of Gwen's face turned black, bubbling and shifting into a small waving tentacle, and producing a handful of small spiders. "It's actually a _'we'_ down here. It knows everything about my feelings and emotions. It still remembers everything I felt inside that place, and it reacted. Sometimes I react in turn. But I'm teaching it to be a productive member of society." 

Gwen saw the spider skitter around the shirt. "Huh. That's…" 

"Gummy spiders. Yup, they're us, to the last one." 

"I was going to say 'very cool'." 

"Eh, my dad disagrees. But nice to know." 

They pulled away from the hug, a bit ashamed in Gwen's case. 

"As I was saying," her elder continued, "I was an idiot. Because when I got out… well, no more secret identity for me, but I had my people. I wasn't alone. The people I loved knew everything about me, and they had my back. And people out there rooted for 'Spider-Gwen'." She looked at Gwen directly in the eyes. " _That's_ chapter one of how I do it: I suddenly realized that what I had was more important than what I feared to lose. I'm sure your Peter would want you to know that." 

_'Friends.'_

"Yeah." Gwen nodded. "I think I get it." 

"Good. You do that." The elder Gwen turned around and walked back to the window, while her clothes, starting from the neck to the feet turning into spiders that turned into her costume. Damn, that was cool. And creepy. Creepy cool. "Because they tell me I have a rep for dopey lovey speeches and I don't want to repeat myself and give them more fuel. Let's go get something to eat? I'm starving and I'm sure you are too." 

"Yeah, sure." Gwen snorted at the chevalier attitude. "What about 'chapter two', though?" Gwen asked as she picked her costume from the bed. 

"Yeaaaah nope, that's wartime stories. Let's leave that for another day, yeah? We got work to do, and daylight's burning." 

Gwen needed to reevaluate her opinion on her older self; she was turning out to be much more interesting and neat than Gwen first thought. 

* * *

"New York Two was bad enough, but this town is even more of a dump." 

"Eyes up and careful now this swing, Gwendy, not a lot to cover us around." 

The younger Gwen groaned as she followed the older one. They left web threads behind as they vaulted from a block of skyscrapers to a zone of smaller buildings. They landed in one of them, continuing their journey on foot, running and jumping over from roof to roof. 

"I already saw it," Gwendy said. "And really? Do you have to call me that?" 

"Hey, we need a way to differentiate one from the other," Gwen replied as she tried to mentally map their position. "If only for the benefit of the others. You have no idea how many Peter Parkers are out there. Or Spider-Women _slash_ Girls, for that matter. There's a reason why I'm calling myself Ghost Spider outside my homeworld." They had just left the nice-ish flats part of the city, went through left the business area of Brockton Bay, and they were now in the suburbs before leaving the city proper. 

And to be fair to Gwendy's assessment, Brockton Bay hadn't exactly been anything impressive. They hadn't seen any trouble yet, but the entire city screamed loss, silence, and sadness. 

"And I mean, I was the first Gwen around. Seniority privileges." 

"Ok, fine, but seriously? Gwendy?" 

Gwen slowed down, stopping in the middle of a roof and turned around. She raised an eyebrow just as Gwendy caught up to her. "What's the issue? It's short, obvious, and I could have gone with something worse." 

Gwendy stopped in front of Gwen and looked up to her with her own raised brow. "Worse?" 

Gwen shrugged. "Would you prefer Gwenzelle?" 

"Ugh. Fine." 

"And besides, if anyone's going to be called Gwennie, that's me." 

"Your Parkers made you the same mug?" 

Gwen smiled fondly. "Winnie the Poo?" 

"Yup." Gwendy chuckled. "The same." 

"Gwennie is off limits then?" 

"Better be." 

Gwen took a moment to compare each other, both of them suited up and masked. They looked similar in costume, of course, enough to make people think they were doing a theme. Black from feet to their torsos, with white covering the rest. Pink for the lines of the blank eyes on the masks, and the web motives on the elbow pits and inside their hoodies were the finishing touches that made them look kickass. 

But even accounting for her symbiote taking care of the laundry, Gwen tried to make her costume look like she did before they were together. Meanwhile, Gwendy's was a bit rougher, homemade. Not that it was anything against it. Gwen's original costume had been so as well and nobody had seemed to care. 

And some details differentiated them even beyond the costume itself and their height. For example, most people wouldn't notice, but Gwendy's eyebrow piercing stuck a bit below her mask. It was kind of cute in a punkish way. Better not let Spider-Punk see her, or he wouldn’t stop gushing. 

Then there were the shoes. Gwen had used sneakers, once, and so she had the symbiote emulate them. Gwendy though wore what looked like ballet slippers. Green in both cases, but it made Gwen wonder. If there was a divergence between the two where Gwendy practiced ballet at some point, it would explain her more elegant movement that Gwen had observed while swinging around, compared to her patented trademark in 'I don't care how my foot moves from point A to point B as long as it ruins that one particular face'. 

On second thought, maybe that accounted for their different builds? Gwen wasn't exactly built like a linebacker, but Gwendy was pretty lean in comparison… 

"Speaking about cute. Ballet?" Gwen asked pointing at the shoes. 

"When I was a kid. Not anymore." Gwendy shook her head. "I switched to drumming, ever since… uh…" 

"Hey, I'm a drummer too!" Gwen hurried to say, recognizing the awkward silent and bad memory combo. There would be plenty of time for that kind of trust another day. "At least when I'm not getting bitched at by my band about how I'm behind the beat. No ballet ever tho. Anyway. You got something else?" Gwen asked. "For a nickname." 

"Uh…" Gwendy eloquently answered, turning her head sideways as she scratched her neck. "How about Wanda?" 

There was way too much acted out effusiveness in saying that. 

"Wanda? What kind of… Wait, let's just file that away for later. Where did that even come from?" 

"Well, just before I met the others, I tried to infiltrate in a…" Gwendy snorted. "You know what? Forget that. It doesn't matter." 

"No no, I wanna hear it," Gwen said as she put her hands on her hips. "Sounds like something funny." 

The hand on the neck traveled to the backside of the head. "We told you guys how this particle collider of Kingpin's brought us to the same universe, yeah? Well, my spider-sense guided me to a high school…" 

"You 'infiltrated' a high school." Gwen's voice was flatter than a corpse's encephalogram. 

"I thought it meant there'd be something related to what brought me there, so I borrowed a uniform from a locker and books from the library." Gwendy raised both hands in a dramatic shrug. "Turns out it was just that the newest spider people in that world were attending class there. I made the mistake of laughing at a joke he made in class, and when we met later, he asked for a name and I almost spat my real one. I guessed correctly later in getting into a research company owned by Kingpin that actually had what I wanted." 

Gwen's hands fell off her hips, hanging limply for a moment. She then raised one and turned it palm side down. "So, wait. Leaving aside why on earth you thought anything in a high school would help you with multidimensional problems. Not only you went through all the trouble of getting a disguise, but you also fooled the staff into thinking you belonged there to the point they let you in a class. And did the same later on a place I'm assuming had real security." 

"Yeah?" 

Gwen moved the hand sideways. "But instead of not using your real name, which wouldn't matter anyway because, you know, alternate dimensions, you didn't think of a fake name up until a guy asked you?" 

"Meh, he didn't notice. The guy was going through an extreme case of 'I just woke as a spider and I can't control my sticky hands please god help me' and trying to hit on me at the same time, so…" 

"Ohh!" Gwen's hand rose up, pointing at Gwendy's head. "So that's why you're so touchy with the hair." 

"Just one. More. Word." Gwendy warned with narrowed eyes. 

"Well, you didn't get caught, so you got that over me," Gwen quickly deflected with a giggle. "Remind me to tell you about that time I had to go undercover as the clone of a decades long dead 616-Gwen until her likewise cloned father saw through my cover." 

"Wait, what?" Gwendy's mask eyes widened. 

"Oh yeah. We thought the local Peter was going to kickstart a zombie clone apocalypse. There was this clone of his, Kaine, and we worked together to solve it. Turns out it was another clone of Peter who was behind everything, and smart use of Photoshop had fooled us all." 

Gwendy shook her head. "I thought my life was weird. How the hell one goes through that crap and still make sense of things?" 

"616, honey. That place is certifiably insane. But stick with the Warriors and it'll look like one more Tuesday to you." 

"I dread to ask, but what are Tuesdays for?" 

"Blizzard ninja storm in May." 

"Remind me why I agreed to join again?" Gwendy said. She was amused, though. Little victories. 

"To benefit from my vast and delicate experience in knuckle sandwich delivery." Gwendy snorted, and Gwen threw a thumb over her shoulder. "Let's move, the others should be back already, and I want a report on the city before I get you guys back to your worlds for the day." 

Gwendy nodded. "Let's. Because I swear, if I spend five more minutes with you I'm going to catch your weirdness." 

"Five more minutes with that attitude and I'm bringing you to my brunches with Cindy and Jess in 616. Then you'll puke weirdness." 

"I don't know what or who are you talking about and you're already not selling me the idea." 

They started running again towards the edge of the roof. "So, about that guy." 

"What?" 

"Hitting on you, huh?" 

Gwendy groaned. "Just friends. He made me shave my hair, you know?" 

"Just?" Gwen wiggled her eyebrows at Gwendy just before they leaped over the street. "I mean, two totems, making eyes at each other? I've done that." 

"Are you my mother now?" Gwendy let out an exasperated sigh midair. "I'm not interested in Miles like that." 

Hmm, 'like that'? Gwen knew she didn't bat for the other team, but maybe Gwendy did. Or maybe she was reading too deep into it. Crap, Jess and her 'get a life' attitude was such a bad influence on — "Wait, Miles? _Miles Moral-PFFT?!_ " 

If anyone asked, Gwen would answer that no, she didn't slip her landing and almost crash face-first against a wall. 

And Gwendy was a lying liar who lied lyingly. 

Gwen swore, the little brat was enjoying that too much. 

* * *

Once the buildings were eventually too small and spread out to jump and run over them, they had reached a small warehouse zone at the city limits. Brockton Bay was a port town, and it had a surplus of unused real estate at the docks in a wide area. However, a fast internet-fueled education in a public library about local power plays, and a cursory check of the neighborhood convinced Gwen and Octavia that installing themselves in any of the abandoned warehouses would attract unwanted attention. And the state of those who nobody seemed to want was at some intermediate point between rotting away' and 'just plant the demolition charges and do-over'. 

The small warehouse park on the outskirts used by transport trucks supplying the city, on the other hand, while mostly occupied by legal companies, provided a small but still habitable selection of buildings they could occupy. They weren't planning to stay for a long time, so any suspicions due to using electricity and running water wasn't a big concern. They choose one that hasn't been used yet and had the further benefit of being big enough to house two full portals away from prying eyes, and able to hold a small emergency Warriors meeting. Not that they expected any of that to happen, but better to have a surplus in space than a need. 

As for getting in, roof windows were a favorite of the spiders. Gwen opened one and slipped inside, followed by Gwendy to a landing in the middle of the main area. 

"I'm home, kids," Gwen called out as she let her hoodie down and her mask melted into the rest of her costume, leaving her head exposed. Gwendy, lacking her own symbiote, had to pull off her own with a hand. 

"Hey. How did it go?" Octavia, the only one there at the moment, waved from the computer she was sitting, positioned slightly off from the center of the floor, as to make room for the designated space for portals. There was a storeroom, a small bathroom, and a set of stairs carried up to an office level they converted into their living room, kitchen and sleeping room. 

"It went. I want everyone to be here first before going over everything," Gwen said, glancing at the setup. There wasn't just the computer Octavia was using. There were some tables with unopened boxes half-assembled esoteric equipment. "I see you got most things up and running already." 

"Yeah. We got watch-less comms with Loomworld — Annie says hi by the way—, local internet, some information, and a connection with New York. Pavitr finished just now setting up. I'll need to finish installing the scientific equipment later, I'll stay here in Bet tonight if you don't mind to get it done tomorrow morning. " 

"Sure, I can drop by to check on you before class. Kitchen is stocked up?" At Octavia's nod, Gwen started towards the office up some stairs. "Neat. I'll get something while the others arrive, uh." A metal arm extended towards her, offering a muesli bar. She took it and started unwrapping. "Or I'll just stay here, loving you." 

Octavia chuckled. "I took a few down here when I started working. Didn't want an interruption in case something needed my full attention." 

Gwendy gave a strange look behind Octavia. "So those aren't just for show." 

The four metal arms turned toward Gwendy and waved. "Hey, if you got 'em, use 'em, right?" Octavia said with a smile but quickly turned to worry. "Did I say something wrong?" 

"No no," Gwendy said slightly uncomfortable, a hand rubbing her neck. "It's just, I've met a couple Doc Ocks already. The one in my world, let's just say he tends to go rough." 

"I'm sorry." Octavia grimaced. "I know how unpleasant my alternates are. I can keep them out of sight if…" 

Gwendy shook her head. "It's fine, don't worry on my account." She then looked up. "Oh, hey guys." 

They saw a man in a long coat drop from the window, followed by a long-limbed metal sphere in blue and red. 

Peter, or Noir as they had decided to nickname him, was currently the only male in the group. All the clothes he wore were in some dark shade of gray. Boots, pants, sweater, coat, gloves, balaclava, fedora, gun holsters, and even goggles. All gray. Gray and grayer. However his world operated, Gwen suspected that no color crayons were ever subjected to any kind of hurt or torture. "Hey ladies," he said as he tipped his hat. 

Peni's suit came closer on all fours, the external display showing a smiling face. It waved at them with an arm while Peni came out through a hatch on its back and sat just above the display. She was a short, skinny Asian teen with an unruly mop of black hair, wearing a high school uniform, including a kitty themed backpack and the most excited of smiles. "Hi guys!" She then laid on her belly, propping her head on her arms, and her arms just above the display, which changed to eight dots. Just like a spider, Gwen realized. It was weird to think that the expression was not of an AI in the suit itself, but that of the spider inside the suit acting as a copilot. 

Gwendy walked up closer to Peni and knocked on the suit. "Looking good, after losing the other one." 

"Yep! We had to spend some time rebuilding dad's armor from scratch," Peni said with a grin. "But we're back to the ass-kicking business." 

The suit made a flexing gesture, while the smiley in the display changed to show its own merciless grin. 

Gwen chose that moment to swallow what was left of the bar. "Hey dudes. Any problems?" 

"Nothing worth mentioning," Noir said. "Patrol, observe, and try to go unnoticed, just like you said." He then folded his arms. "We saw some buildings destroyed along the way, though. The dust was still fresh." 

"I see. It's fine if you guys stop a small crime or something, but if you find something bigger just ask me first," Gwen explained. "Depending on what it is, I'll tell you to go ahead or wait for me to join the fun anyway, but we wanna be careful. Stay on the shadows, and don't let anybody know you were there. But our main job here is to find the local spider and help Octavia with her research. 

“I already got thrown on my face once that, for the daughter of a cop, I was a shitty detective. And that hurt but was also completely on the money, so let's do things correctly, ok? We know little of Bet, so until we get Anya's go ahead, we limit our involvement with this world as much as we can." She then turned to Octavia. "Do we have details?" 

"We have lots of details," Octavia confirmed. "Also, before we start, here." She produced a small box with her tentacles and moved it closer to the others. "Your new Web Warrior watches. They can't open portals like Gwen and Annie can, of course, but that's a moot point until enough of the Web is repaired anyway. Still, it'll give you global comms on a single world, and allow you to communicate with Loomworld, whenever there's someone on duty on there. There's one for you too, Gwen." 

Gwen took the box and passed it around the group. "Ok, get your every one." While everyone took a watch and put them on, she turned to Peni. "Have you thought about a new code?" 

"You're changing Peni's name code too?" Gwendy asked. 

"No, Gwendy, but there's already a Peni going by SP//dr who everyone already knows about," Gwen explained said. "It's just to use it to differentiate them if both are present." 

"Yup! Octavia already suggested SP//dr-Ln, and I like it," Peni pipped in. "Not a big change anyway. And I like Gwendy too. Will I ever get to me that other Peni? That would be so cool! But Anya told me she was very busy." 

"Eh, if something big happens, for sure. She's always giving us the big 'not you again' glare when we call her, but you can always count on her boot to kick a massive butt when you need it." Gwen frowned and turned to Octavia. "Spiderling?" 

Octavia shrugged. "It was Annie's idea, actually. I think her parents choose it for her, and it's her way to teen rebel to get called Patternmaker instead." 

"But Patternmaker sounds weird to use on the streets… Whatever. Let's look at what we have on the local heroes?" 

"Sure. I'll give you the quick rundown." Octavia turned on a holographic projector and started typing on the computer. 

"Well I'll be damned," Noir exclaimed as he looked over the light show. Right. He came from the Thirties. He was bound to feel out of his element at some point. 

"So. We got the Parahuman Response Team and the Protectorate," Octavia started to explain as the figure what looked like riot gear for Armageddon. Heavy black faceless armor and an automatic rifle. "Anya's team are the ones that will dig the details, but the first is your government-backed paramilitary army. Parahuman is their word for metahuman, or people with unusual abilities. They're normal humans acting as cops all over the States; if there's known parahuman involvement in a crime, they are the ones they get called." 

"Who's their designer?" Peni asked. "They should fire him and get someone else because that's atrocious." 

"I'm sure that's intended," Gwen said. "It's like when the police go out in riot gear." 

"They also deal with the legalities of trying to keep parahuman citizens on the good side of the law, try to recruit them for the Protectorate, and provide them with public relations assistance." Octavia then changed the trooper image for a collage of photos, all of them of masked people. "The Protectorate is like the organized hero organization in the States. They're backed by the PRT, with all the pros and cons that involves." 

"They lack for nothing, especially red tape," Gwendy remarked. 

Octavia nodded. "The Protectorate team here in Brockton Bay has six members." She then zoomed on the photo of a man with a blue armor that only left visible his mouth. "Armsmaster. The leader. Some kind of inventor, but all I can find to his name are combat applications that mostly he can use." She then frowned. "Which is all kinds of weird." 

"Well, he isn't Tony Stark then, what of it?" Gwendy dismissed it. 

"Even my Tony Stark found time to commercialize common amenities," Gwen replied. "And while he isn't Iron Man, he's a warmongering butthole." 

"Sorry, the weird thing is that it isn't just him," Octavia interjected. "Apparently, all parahuman inventors, or 'tinkers', are the same. Everything they do can only be understood by them. They have no mass application whatsoever. It's as if I couldn't recognize Gutenberg's press except for the fact that it prints books because the way it works is completely alien to me. So nobody can replicate it other than him, and he can only build so many in a lifetime." 

"Bogus," Peni said in a flat tone, in between mouthfuls of candy she was taking out of a tub she had taken from inside her suit. "Not sure about lame. Very whack." 

"Even I can tell that makes no sense," Noir commented. "And I'm not of a scientific inclination." 

Peni glanced at Noir and threw a thumb in his direction. "He had trouble dealing with a Rubik's cube." 

"I'm making progress with identifying colors," he proclaimed proudly. 

Gwen and Octavia exchanged a look. "Is that going to be a problem?" Gwen asked. "I mean, colors are, like, very important in our day to day life." 

Noir produced said Rubik's cube from a pocket and showed it to the others. "Blue, yellow, and red are the important ones, correct?" Three sides of the cube were occupied fully by those colors. 

"Alright, keep working on it. Anything else on Armsmaster?" 

"Just that he wields a polearm that carries all his inventions. Basically, expect a swiss army knife of powers out of him. The computer has full details on everyone I've looked up if you're interested." Octavia changed the photo for another of a woman on army fatigues and a bandana covering her lower face. "Goes by Miss Militia. Armsmaster's second in command, she can produce any man-made weapon, except those made by tinkers." 

"I've seen fewer flags on Independence Day," Gwendy commented. 

A man in a red onesie with racetracks all over the suit. A video had him run around in a blur. "Velocity. Moves fast, but the faster he moves, the weaker he becomes." 

Gwen scratched her cheek with a finger. "Kinda lost the power lottery, didn't he?" 

A man in greek armor floating over the streets. "Dauntless. Can imbue an item with a small bit of power every day, but that power can be reapplied. He's currently sort of a favorite because he might keep growing in power for a long time." 

A woman with a deep blue suit with light tracks that might have come straight out of a Tron movie, and a man in a red suit. "Battery and Assault. Kind of the dynamic duo in the team. She charges up energy and release it, either shoving it into something or someone or launching herself with it. He takes kinetic energy, and uses it to impulse himself." 

Both Gwens made a face. "Really?" Gwen asked. "Who the hell had that idea for the names?" 

"My money is on Assault, apparently he styles himself as a goofy joker, and Battery was there before him." Octavia changed the Protectorate heroes for a gallery photo of some teenagers in costume. "These are the Wards. A sub-organization inside the Protectorate for minors with powers. They get training, but they don't fight unless they can't avoid it. If we meet anyone in a fight, I don't think we'll have to deal with them." 

"You make it sounds as if we'd be fighting them," Gwendy said. 

"My bad. I mean helping the heroes in a fight." The kids were swapped out for another gallery photo of several unmasked people in white costumes. "These are New Wave. Hero family. Most of them have powers revolving around energy, like projectiles and shields, and flight, with the odd healing or super strength. Mostly inactive, so kind of like the Wards; just be polite. 

"Alright, big bad dudes players now. Three main gangs have been vying for dominance of the town for decades, but one of them, the ABB, has been taken down recently. One of these two is Coil's gang. Nobody seems to know for sure who is Coil or what his deal is besides drug trade, but he employs professional mercenaries. The military sort. Cloak and dagger methods." 

"Doesn't sound so bad," Gwendy said. "We've fought mercenaries before. Even ones with laser guns." 

"Nooo no nooooo," Gwen drawled. "See. Metahumans, you see them coming. They hurt you, you take the hurt and put it back inside them until they surrender. But I've fought ninjas and army veterans. And smart, trained organizations are the ones you should be really careful about. Because they are the ones who are the most motivated to find any weakness, run with it, and destroy who you are. Trust me, these are dangerous." 

"She's right," Noir agreed. "I had my share of freaks in my world. But there's a reason I enjoy punching nazis so much. They're insidious, like cockroaches sneaking where you can't see them until they control half a government department. Makes getting a victory all the more enjoyable, like taking a bite off that cherry pie that you've spent half a day baking making a mess of the kitchen." 

Gwen blinked. "Sure, if that's how you want to look at it, go nuts." 

Gwendy exchanged a look with Peni, and they shrugged. "Fine, we'll be doubly careful with them." 

Octavia changed the hologram to display the image of a man encased in metal in front of a microphone. "This is Kaiser, of the Empire, or, ahem, the E88." 

Noir groaned. "You don't tell me…" 

"I'll let him tell you."The image came to life, with the man gesticulating in front of an unseen audience. 

<"… And I ask you, brothers! To lend us our support so the one true superior race can survive against the inferior hordes that infest our dear city — !">

Octavia paused the video at that moment. "And that was the tamest piece I could find." 

"Alright," Noir said cracking his knuckles. "Now I know who I’ll start with for my teeth breaking routine." 

"I'd suggest not, yet. The Empire alone accounts for half the parahuman muscle in the city, and half of them are heavy hitters. If you must, dealing with the flunkies and thugs that manage their business would hurt them a lot more and… hmm?" 

Gwen watched as something in a monitor caught Octavia's attention. "Tavia?" 

"Sorry, breaking news. It seems like we got an up and coming contestant for a third big baddies group." Octavia typed something, and the hologram changed to show a party room that had been thoroughly wrecked. "The fall of the ABB involved a lot of damage to the city. So the mayor organized a fundraiser event last night to gather support for the Protectorate. A band of thieves called the Undersiders that have been moving up on the big crimes ladder decided that it wasn't lively enough for their taste. They embarrassed all the heroes there, and fled scott free." 

"Ok, that's bad. Not 'stealing candy from children', but close," Gwen considered. "Do you have anything on them?" 

"There's not a lot out there about them, and considering they prefer to hit and run before anybody gets to fight with them…" 

"That may mean they don't fight not because they can't," Gwendy commented. "But because they don't want to, or don't want to bother." 

"And isn't that interesting," Gwen muttered. 

The hologram showed a grainy photo of a man in black motorcycle leathers and a helmet with a skull motive. He had a hand extended outwards, producing smoke. "That's Grue, the suspected leader. Known to work as a bouncer, so he can brawl. That smoke causes total sensory deprivation as long as it covers you, kills all electronic signals into or inside it, and has quite a reach. I don't know if your spider senses will be affected, but just try to not get caught inside." 

A blonde white girl now, in a purple catsuit and domino mask, and armed with a handgun. "Tattletale. The brains. She claims to be a psychic, though people seem to not believe it. Funnily, the people of Bet claim that psychics are just not a thing." 

"Really?" Peni exclaimed indignantly, something shared by her spider, judging by the angry smiley on the display of the suit. "And what are we, chopped liver?" 

"I doubt they intended to offend you, but it is a bit strange for them to dismiss psychics like that," Gwendy commented. "I haven't met any others than you, but everyone in my world knows about the X-Men. Charles Xavier, Jean Gray, the Phoenix…" 

"Yeah! They are, like, recent public history in my world," Peni agreed. "Why would Bet be different?" 

"There are no known psychics in my world," Gwen said. "I'm not saying there aren't any, but I can see how it can give the impression. She may just be the first known case here. And we know there is something wrong with this group of worlds being hidden from the Web until now." 

"Anyway, Tattletale seems to need to look directly at what she wants to glean information about. Beyond that, her biggest weapon seems to be her mouth," Octavia continued. "Apparently she's on a mission from God to get on everyone's nerves." 

"Web her face," Noir said, "web her hands, the kitty is declawed. Easy." 

A skinny teen in a renaissance costume came to the hologram, complete with a scepter. "Regent. He can make you trip or react in unwanted ways. Hands, feet, elbows, whatever. The scepter seems to be a taser as well." 

"Oh, don't worry." Peni sat up, her face and the armor display showing the same cruel smile. "Leave him to us, we'll finish him quickly." 

A disheveled girl surrounded by three giant reptiles. "Rachel Lindt, alias Hellhound. She by herself isn't special. Those monsters though, those are dogs she trains, and she can turn them into what you see. She doesn't provide just muscle, but transportation as well. A known murderer with a volatile personality." 

"No kidding, I wouldn't want to get near those teeth," Gwen said. "We'll have to come up with some ideas to deal with these just in case. Is that all of them?" 

"Not at all," Octavia said. "Say hi to Skitter, the rising star among the city villains." The hologram showed now a figure covered by a cloud of bugs. Tall, thin, in a black armored suit with a mask that reminded her of a wasp. "She can control any kind of bug at an observed range of a city block, which for the uninitiated are enough bugs to make anyone scream. And lest you think she's all show, she debuted with federal crimes. Robbing a bank, taking hostages under threat of black widow venom, holding another hero hostage with a knife to the neck, and recreating horror movie scenes with the heroes as the unwitting victims of her swarm." 

"Yeah, I can tell already that I'm going to hate her guts," Gwen declared to the unanimous agreement of the group. 


	4. Chapter 4

Gwendy observed the lockers at her right as she walked by the corridor. “I’m starting to get tired,” she whispered.

Peni walked at her side, yawning as she stretched her arms. “And boooored.”

 _“Don’t complain too much yet,”_ came Octavia’s voice through the cheap earbuds connected to their bracelets, accompanied by the sound of strokes on a keyboard. _“We still got three more to go housing similar lockers if the one we’re looking for isn’t here. Or if we don’t find anything in the records room.”_

“At least you got nobody to bother you in there.”

 _“Sure but it’s like looking for a needle in a haystack,”_ Noir complained along with the sound of rustling paper. _“We don’t even know who are we looking for yet. Where’s Gwen, by the way?”_

 _“Past the teacher’s room,”_ Gwen answered in a hush after a moment of silence. _“And by the way, I can camouflage, not be unheard. Don’t make me talk too much. A teacher just passed by.”_

They had already combed two other high schools before trying their luck within Winslow, following the same plan: Gwendy and Peni would make a search by numbers for the lockers they saw in the Web, and compare them to make sure they were the same; they were both dressed in Gwendy’s more contemporaneous street clothes, as Peni’s were a bit too futurist for a disguise, and tried to avoid anyone that may question their presence as they walked around during class hours. Gwen would start her search at the opposite side of the building or on a different floor as she crawled on the ceiling, still on costume but invisible thanks to her symbiote. Meanwhile, Octavia and Noir snuck into the archives to check for any hints of the new spider’s identity or at least waiting until any of the others was able to find the locker in question.

They considered splitting into two groups to cover two schools at once, but they discarded the idea on the basis that this was unfamiliar territory, and it was preferable to stay together.

The idea was that, as they had the numbers of the lockers in the image, Octavia and Noir would try to find who was the owner. With at least a name and once the rest had found the locker, Gwendy and Peni would wait nearby and approach them. If the student was the one who had their locker messed up as the image showed, then they’d try to convince them to meet at a different place.

Gwendy felt like she shouldn’t have talked about ‘infiltrating’ a high school. The fact that the two teenagers had been sent to the previous school without even trying to establish a cover story smelt to her like Gwen trying to pull her leg somehow, as well as seeing how she improvised. Not that the others seemed to care. After all, it was a high school, not a high-security military compound or something like that.

And besides, if Octavia and Noir found something interesting in the student’s records, they could use it to tailor a better introduction.

But the joke was on Gwen, because Gwendy had already been working on an excuse along the lines of being childhood friends who moved out of the neighborhood. Out of town. Out of state. Ugh. Yes, precisely in the same neighborhood with all the details she couldn't relate because she didn’t know anything about Brockton Bay. Blargh. How were your parents? Their business good? Oh, they’re blue-collar, right…

Ok, fine. It was better to wait for Octavia and Noir to give them something to work with before thinking of something that would make Gwendy look like an idiot.

 _“I found our wayward spider,”_ Octavia suddenly said. _“At least if the locker number hasn’t been exchanged. Name is Taylor Hebert, fifteen, a sophomore. Looks like a younger Anne Hathaway in her photograph, white skin with long curly black hair and glasses over brown eyes. One parent, Daniel Hebert…”_

Octavia kept reading details as the bell rang, rousing the silent building into activity. The students started pouring out of their classrooms to the corridors, while Gwendy stopped in front of a row of lockers and compared them to the image on the screen of her phone. “Got the lockers. “Found ‘em, east side on the lower floor. Same scratch marks and graffiti.”

 _“Good, keep watch for our girl,”_ Gwen said. “ _I’ll see if I can find somewhere to change into civvies and talk with the director or the faculty about her. Tavia, Noir, see what else can you find about her.”_

Gwendy stood in front of the locker, her hands on the pockets of her jeans with the thumbs idly peeking out of them, and looked around for anyone coming who matched Taylor’s description, letting the coming and going waves of people pass her by. Stopping a random student to find someone who knew the locker’s owner was a lottery and probably a waste of time. “Hope we see Taylor soon,” she commented, loud enough to try and look like they weren’t out of place. And not have to wait for the next ring of the bell, she mentally added.

Peni’s spider friend crawled down from the ceiling, getting inside the locker they were interested in through the slits. Peni looked around, her nose wrinkled as they became surrounded by teenagers. “Clean”, she whispered to Gwendy, “but we don’t want to smell inside. Could explain why there’s nothing inside. If she still has this locker, I don’t think she is using it anymore.”

 _“This is curious,”_ Noir said, more paper shuffling on his end. _“According to these papers, a teacher reported that Taylor had denounced a classmate for… what does this word mean, ‘bullying’?”_

_“Means someone was picking on her, in a way that exploits the rules or a failing of them. Like, ridiculing you for a dead family member to hurt you, and getting away with it because you can’t retaliate likewise. But it’s something that happens repeatedly, not just once.”_

Something caught Gwendy’s eye. Nobody in the corridor was paying attention to the two strangers, but she noticed a redhead looking at them from a distance. Fashion magazine pretty, but staring at them with an intense look that Gwendy could only describe as dead cow’s eyes.

_“Right, that happened once during the past year. After that, the faculty seems to consider her a known troublemaker, pranking her classmates and making spurious claims about them to try and get them in trouble. Teachers repeatedly tried to warn and talk to her, but that’s all.”_

_“Huh, weird. But wouldn’t be the first spider who was a little shit in some way, before and for a while after their change,”_ Gwen commented. _“Me, for instance.”_

 _“I don’t know,”_ Octavia mused. _“From what I’m reading on the computer, something doesn’t add up. Let me see those.”_

An athletic, dark-skinned girl joined the redhead. After asking something, she looked at them as well. For some reason, her own look wasn’t much friendlier.

Gwendy looked aside, feigning getting interested in some other sight.

“I think we should ask someone, even a teacher,” Peni said, balancing herself back and forth on her heels. “I mean, how far can they send people to class away from their lockers?”

“I hear you, but sadly your forward-thinking logic is too pure for the schooling inefficiency of this time.” Gwen then turned to Peni and whispered. “And besides, I suspect it’s us who are going to get asked.”

“Helloooo, there~” Gwendy heard behind her, as if on cue. She turned her head around to see the redhead, beaming a wide smile at her. The athlete was looming just behind her, looking more like a bodyguard than a classmate. A group of girls had come out of nowhere to surround the pair, like courtesans following their rulers. “I haven’t seen you around before. New transfers?”

Nothing came from her spider-sense, but Gwendy didn’t need it to realize quickly that these people weren’t girl scouts. They were looking for trouble, preferably caused by themselves, and paid by others.

Woo, high school drama, nice. Just what she was missing in her life.

Gwendy fully turned around now to face the newcomers, and Peni took a step to her side. “Nah, we’re visiting. Our families moved out when we were kids, and heard an old friend is attending here. Wanted to say hi.”

“Yup!” Peni chose that moment to speak up, hands on her back and bouncing to Gwendy’s side. “This dummy lost our friend’s contact info. That was, like, ages ago. We asked in her old school and they told us she ended up here.”

The model and the athlete glanced at the lockers, Taylor’s in particular, obviously recognizing who was that ‘friend’, and Gwendy started worrying about all the holes they could potentially poke in their paper-thin story.

The athlete turned back at them with an incredulous frown. “You were friends with _Hebert_?” Their followers started chattering and even _giggling_ behind their backs for some reason.

Ok. Reasonable question, strangely hostile attitude out of nowhere. What was up with that?

“Actuallyyyy,” Gwendy dragged to buy time to think, “yeah, Taylor Hebert! I mean uhh we weren’t the closest of friends, but close enough to remember her. At first, we were going to wait outside, but then we realized we might not recognize each other anymore.”

“We were just kids you know,” Peni pitched in. “She couldn’t have been older than five.”

“And we were not going to ask for her class schedule,” Gwendy provided to her companion, both of them nodding to each other. ”Would be rude to barge in while class is in session.”

“But we heard the class change was soon, so we asked for her locker to wait for her and see if we could meet later.” Peni gave them a beaming shrug. “And here we are. Though it doesn’t seem we’re in luck of meeting her here by now.” Truth be told, Gwendy noticed that no one had come forward as Taylor, at least to even reach the locker. Even stranger, some people had stopped to watch the conversation.

Peni wasn’t done yet and pointed to the redhead. “Unless one of you are Taylor!”

“Oh, don’t think so,” Gwen deflected quickly. “I don’t see any of them with black hair and brown eyes, do you?” On one hand, that would hopefully lend credence to their story of knowing Taylor. On the other hand…

She didn’t know if Peni was doing it intentionally or it was just her usual peppiness, but Gwendy could swear the two leaders of the group seemed viscerally offended at the thought of being confused by Taylor.

Just a few gestures and Gwendy was pretty sure what all this was about. These two and Taylor were enemies at the very least. And people were expecting to watch her and Peni step on a landmine.

Octavia started talking again on Gwendy’s ear, oblivious of their little encounter. _“Alright, I think I got a timeline mostly figured out. January First, end winter break. Taylor was noted as an absentee for all her classes. But around the third or fourth hour, an ambulance was called to take her to the hospital, and after that, the janitor is called to clean her locker. Any inquiries are closed within the day because nobody saw anything. She didn’t come back to class after a couple of weeks later. I’m sure I’ll find a lot more if I get into the records of the hospital she was sent to, but I think we all can read between the lines pretty decently.”_

“I’m sorry, I don’t think we’ve met.” The redhead composed herself, smiling a charming smile full of perfect thirsty white shark teeth. Yeah, Gwendy wasn’t trusting any of it. “I’m Emma, and this is Sophia,” she said tilting her head to her bodyguard. “You are?”

“Oh.” Gwendy took one of her hands out of her pocket and passed it by a flick of hair over her ear. What was that Gwen said? Why bother faking her name on the spot in a different universe? “I’m Gwendy, and…”

“I’m Peni!” her companion announced with a much more sincere smile.

 _“I agree with Octavia,”_ Noir said. _“Maybe it’s because I’m an old-timer here and I may not understand all of this. But while I can get this Taylor being a naughty cat, all this sounds too convenient. In any case, I don’t see why all it matters. We got our spider. Let’s leave, find her, and call it a day.”_

“Well, Gwendy, Peni, I can assure you you’re wasting your time looking for Taylor,” Emma started to explain. “She doesn’t even deserve you reconnecting. See, she’s nothing special, just an ugly good for nothing.”

“An attention whore,” Sophia added with a sneer. “She thinks she’s better than others.”

“Besides, she hasn’t come to class for days already,” Emma said dismissively. “Which is just as well, because really, nobody likes her.” The followers nodded in synchronization. “Say, why don’t _we_ meet later. Sophia is busy, but I’ll be glad to show you the best parts of the town.”

 _“Wait, that’s not all,”_ Octavia continued. _“There’s also a several days old note about a meeting with the director. Daniel accused three girls of carrying a bullying campaign against Taylor… Goodness, this is a mess. Taylor had brought a diary detailing the abuse for more than a year, but the director didn’t even bother to give it a look. And one of the girls was Taylor’s best friend before high school. Her father even threatened Daniel to sue them back for the accusation. Taylor hasn’t come to class since then.”_

Now the followers gaped wide-eyed at Emma. Even Sophia directed a raised eyebrow at her friend.

Wow. Wooo- _ow oh boy_. Gwendy had to take a breath. The vulture had taken the mask off in record time. This was obviously something she was only doing to spite Taylor. “Well, we appreciate the offer, but I don’t think we should. I don’t know how much time do we have available and, sure, maybe she doesn’t remember us or don’t want to meet us, but that wouldn’t be nice of us.”

 _“Damn, and I thought I had it bad with my childhood friendships.”_ Gwen sighed. _“Anyway, I get what you guys mean, but let’s just assume for now Taylor is actually a troubled child until proven otherwise. What’s the name of the other girls? Maybe we could ask them later.”_

“Yeah, that would be awful,” Peni considered. “Imagine! Old friends come to see you and at the last moment, you ignore them? Turn them away? Hell no, Peni Parker has standards. And if she’s actually in need of help or an intervention, then we should provide them. Won’t we, Gwendy?”

_“One Madison Clemens. One Sophia Hess. The ex-friend is Emma Barnes, and her father’s Alan.”_

Gwendy blinked. Several times.

Until Peni nailed her elbow on her ribs. Ow. “Yeah, yeah! A big, disappointed intervention,” Gwen said with an acted frown. A ring conveniently sounded through the corridor. Neat, saved by the bell. In one motion, Gwendy clicked her free fingers and threw a thumb past her shoulder. “You know, we should go before a teacher kick us out, see if the office can give us her address and find her at home.”

“Oh, that’s a shame.” If Emma was truly saddened, it didn’t show. She then took out a small piece of paper and started writing on it. “Let me give you my number, call me if you want to—”

Neither Gwendy or Peni gave her a chance to finish, walking out that instant. “It’s fine,” Gwendy said while Peni waved back. “I’m sure we’ll meet again, thanks for the talk!”

The two girls took a turn, leaving Emma and Sophia out of sight, and fastened their pace, looking for the exit.

“You don’t trust her,” Peni stated, serious.

“Considering what I know of high school? I’d trust Mysterio’s illusions before taking anything she said at face value.” Making sure the corridors were clean of people, Gwendy brought up her bracelet closer to her hand and activated it just as a scream came out from somewhere behind them, startling her.

 _“Whoa nelly,”_ Gwen exclaimed. _“Did any of you scare someone?”_

“Forget about it,” Gwendy replied. “We just met Emma and Sophia. I think we should contact Taylor’s father as soon as possible.”

* * *

Carrying two cups of coffee, the blonde girl sat on the kitchen table. “Alright, Taylor. Tell me about these changes,” she said, passing one of the cups to the girl in front of her, and taking a sip from the other.

Taylor took the cup and held it with both hands as she shook her head slowly. “Minor things. Some strength, some agility… But I never thought anything was out of the ordinary.”

“As in?”

“I told you I started jogging months ago. I expected an improvement over time, but this goes a bit beyond that.”

“You survived Lung.”

Taylor rolled her eyes. “Only because you guys showed up. I’m not going to live through a barbecue any time soon, that much I know.” She looked aside, rubbing her index finger against the thumb, as if in reflex. “I tested it.”

Lisa nodded, shaking her head with a chuckle, and took a sip of her cup. “But you must have started to notice the changes at some point. Recently. The last few days ago? A week? No, two. You knew since before Lung? No, you suspected.”

Taylor shrugged, trying to ignore how easily Lisa was able to make a guess. “Must have been a week or two, give or take. And no, I didn’t _know_. I was noticing things that didn’t add up, but don’t merit enough attention on their own. Until I grabbed Armsmaster’s halberd back last night, even though he was standing in his power armor and I was laying on my back on the ground.”

“Damn girl, you didn’t say that. When I told you we wanted a heavy hitter I didn’t expect your bod to be super too.” Lisa then gave out a dramatic baby pout. Even her lips were trembling. “I’m hurt! That’s the kind of thing girlfriends share, you know?”

Taylor snorted dismissively. “I don’t have a super bod, or even a bod at all, for that matter. He wanted to hit the ground, not me; the more I think of it, the more sure I am he was trying to not hurt me. Too much.”

Lisa raised an eyebrow, took a long sip off her coffee, and sat up. She walked up to Taylor, whose confusion only increased as Lisa forced her to lean back on her chair, slapped her in her belly (“Wha—hey!”), and then started drumming with the palm of both her hands.

“Hey, what’s the deal?!” Taylor exclaimed as she made to cover her stomach, but Lisa was faster in raising her shirt and exposing her belly.

“Look at that,” Lisa said. “Frickin’ look at that.” Taylor looked at the familiar sight of her belly. It had improved a long way since those days where she could have impersonated a frog with minimal effort, but Taylor wasn’t sure what was the big deal. “First thing, that’s not even _close_ to reality,” Lisa said after a sigh. “Secondly, you can’t get that with a couple months of jogging each morning. Fuck sake, I could grate cheese on it.” She then softened her voice. “And finally, this is another reminder we gotta work on your self-image. Trust me, you look better than you think.”

Hands withdrawn, Taylor lowered her shirt. “Ok, fine,” she conceded, not completely convinced. “What’s your take?”

“Not much yet to be honest, but really, right now I’m just leaning on you exercising more than you realize; most capes don’t spontaneously grow more powers, particularly ones unrelated to an already existing theme,” Lisa said as her phone beeped and took it out from her pocket. “I need more info, so let’s see if I can watch you training or… Oh, fuck me sideways.” Her eyes went wide looking at the screen of her phone. “Everyone, team meeting now!” She hollered as she started walking out of the room.

Taylor sat up and followed Lisa. “What happened?”

“We just got the biggest nazi shaped shit-filled paper bag to ever stink this city dumped on us. _That’s_ what happened.”

* * *

Gwen jumped on to a nearby rooftop,and started running on her way to the Hebert’s house. Meanwhile Gwendy stood at the Winslow entrance along Peni, waiting for Noir and Octavia to clean their tracks.

At some point, a spider came out crawling through the door, climbing up Peni’s body until it reached her shoulder, rubbing its pedipalps together as Peni showed a smug grin.

Gwendy could only nod and raise her eyebrows. “Alright.”


	5. Chapter 5

Before Gwen had left for Taylor’s house, she and Octavia agreed that a single person in their civvies should be enough to meet both father and daughter, and assess the situation. One would think that Gwendy and Peni would tag along, but Gwen and Octavia had other plans. The two girls in charge had already explained they wanted to see how they dealt with simple info gathering on their own, before they took anyone to any talking. And Gwen also said something about not pressuring the Heberts, in case they reacted negatively to a group. 

So they would keep exercising their incognito recon around the most populated areas of the town, looking around to see what made it click, and to a lesser extent for the Heberts themselves, in case they weren’t at home. 

Octavia wouldn’t be able to pass for a garden variety mountaineer, with the cybernetic node attached to her spine even if she detached the tentacles, and Noir taking his mask off would only raise questions nobody needed to be asked. Things that way, Octavia had taken Peni to be her eyes at the Boardwalk zone, which was considered the local tourist trap. Meanwhile, Gwendy was sent to the a mall center she was currently standing in front of, with Noir as her eyes in the sky, and reporting to Octavia as needed. 

Octavia had found in the internet that the security in the Boardwalk was unofficially provided by some ‘Enforcers’ who had no compunctions to kick — very literally and conspicuously — anyone who didn’t seem to belong in a commercial zone for the rich and the brainless tourists. And of the two teens, Peni was the only one of the two who looked and _knew_ how to act the part. 

So yes, it kinda irked Gwendy that the others would think without a second thought that she wouldn’t look so out of place in the much less glamorous mall. Then again, the Boardwalk was at the beach side, and the mall was surrounded by nice, blessed tall buildings where she can swing from to safety if needed. 

Yeah, Gwendy didn’t really mind that much. Peni and SP//dr-Ln could go the uppity beach if they wanted, she was surrounded by all the security blankets a spider could need. 

Then again, considering what they got to know about Taylor and the… ‘school’ she attended to… 

_“Hey lady,”_ Noir’s voice came through her earbud at some point. _“You alright down there?”_

“Huh yeah. Yeah,” Gwendy replied. “Why? 

_“Been staring at the place from across the street for a while.”_ Gwendy looked up to the roof of the mall, seeing Noir’s head peeking up. _“I’ve only seen empty glasses be more still than you there, and only just. You’ll make people think you’re a loon or worse, poor and desperate.”_

“Nah, just wondering,” she said as she finally started crossing the street towards the mall, trying to not look like she was talking to herself — which she kinda looked like anyway, but whatever. “I know we’re supposed to keep an eye open for Taylor. But from what you dug up from those archives, the Heberts didn’t sound like the kind of family that could pay for any big expenses in a mall, and I’m starting to think she wouldn’t have much of a reason to socialize here.” 

_“Socialize? I thought these malls were for commerce and such?”_

Gwendy strode through the front door into the mall with an amused look. Sometimes she forgot Noir was still catching up with how different things had become a century after his own time. Or was it that he was also a bit out of touch with society? “Well, if you can shop and meet a friend at the same time, wouldn’t you?” 

* * *

When she called to the doorbell of the small residence, Gwen was ready with her best hi-I’m-the-new-neighbour smile, and the symbiote with its best mimicking of her kinda-formal pants and her best spring jacket — accentuated with a Ramones shirt, of course. First impressions were important. 

A minute later without response, she called a second time. She would have risked a look through the window, but the blinders were there, being blinders. 

By the third time she called, Gwen had already dropped her smile with a sigh, and was ready to either leave or sneak inside when she started hearing steps inside, running closer. 

The door opened suddenly, a haggard man showing up with a bags under his eyes. “Lacey! Tell me-!” Whatever he was looking for, he frowned when he found Gwen. “Who are you?” 

Gwen had to fight to recover a semblance of her rehearsed smile. “Hi, my name is Gwen Stacy. I’m looking for Daniel Hebert?” 

“Yeah, that’s, that’s me,” he managed to say with a tired stammer. “I’m sorry, you got me at a bad time. What is it you want?” 

“I’m here about your daughter,” Gwen started, but she was quickly interrupted when Daniel grabbed her arm. 

“Did something happen to her?!” he asked with a desperate look in his face. Daniel’s grab was strong. Nothing that would make Gwen uncomfortable, but she was starting to get an idea that something bad had happened in this house. 

“Not that I know.” Gwen put a reassuring hand over Daniel’s. “How about we come inside, and we start from the beginning?” 

Realizing his death grip on the smaller woman’s arm, Daniel moved his hand away embarrassed and took as step back, allowing Gwen pass into the house. “Of course, I’m sorry. Can I apologize with a cup of coffee or — ?” 

“No need to apologize, and no thanks, I’m fine.” Gwen dismissed him politely, as she was led into the living room. “Isn’t Taylor home? I was hoping to talk with her too.” 

“No huh, Taylor’s out now, Miss Stacy,” Daniel said with reluctance, as they sat down, him in an armchair and her on a couch around a coffee table, “And I just remembered my coffee pot is broken.” 

“A tragedy, I’m sure.” As an attempt to humor the situation, it was pretty bad. But Gwen was already getting enough of a bad vibe from all this. “And please, just call me Gwen.” 

Daniel gave out a strained smile. “Alright, Gwen.” He then started to bounce his fingers on the armrests before speaking again. “I’m sorry, I don’t think you said who sent you?” 

“Oh, nobody, I’m here on my own.” Gwen’s conciliatory smile came back in full force. 

She needed to sell the big fat lie she had been spinning in her head as best as she could, and she’s been spinning it since she left Winslow. She didn’t want to lie, but for all she knew Taylor hadn’t told jack to her father about having powers. Not only it wasn’t her place to drop that bomb on Daniel, Gwen couldn’t predict if doing it would be more problems than all of them needed. 

Until then, she would had to settle with a string of half truths. 

“You see, I’m just a clerk doing odd jobs, but I know people here and there, mostly things like rescue services, police, hospitals. Just the little men, you know. And, sorry if this bothers you, but.” She then paused to take a breath, and followed slowing down her speech. “What happened to Taylor? In January, I think? It made the rounds around the rumor mill of the hospital for a bit.” 

“Of course it did.” Daniel sighed. “How much of it?” 

Gwen shrugged. “Actually, not much. Only that something happened to Taylor, the school sent her to the hospital. She was there for a while, and a couple nurses seemed to think she had gone through hell. I also heard she was shut in her locker with a lot of garbage.” She then raised an eyebrow. “You don’t look upset,” Gwen pointed out. “Or surprised.” 

“Oh, I am upset, believe me,” Daniel said. “I’m just more tired than anything.” 

“Right.” No time to mess around. “The reason I came is because my baby sister, Gwendy. I don’t think you’d remember her even if you met her, but she said she went to school with Taylor when they were toddlers.” 

Daniel shook his head. “No, I don’t remember any friend of Taylor with that name,” he said more dismissive of the totally-obviously-true old forgotten trivia than incredulous of any falsehood. “Wait, your parents called the both of you ‘Gwen’?” he asked, curious. 

“Parents, am I right?” Gwen shrugged with a whatchu-gonna-do grimace, confident that Danny was buying her story. “Dad had her living in New York, pretty sure he wouldn’t want to grow a second kid in a place like this.” 

“Wouldn’t be the first one in the Bay to do something like that…” Daniel said, tilting his head in sympathy. “But if she’s in New York…” 

“She’s staying a few days with me, and she decided to ask around for old friends and see how they’re doing. Including Taylor. But she didn’t have your address.” Gwen started drumming on the coffee table with her fingers, still deciding how to tackle the next bit. “She got it at Winslow today, asking around, but she also heard about the locker, and met an acquaintance of Taylor. Told me she raised red flags for her like a tsunami day at the beach. Emma Barnes?” 

Wow, if Daniel’s eyebrows got any more closed, he could split open a walnut. That name really pissed him off. 

Gwen lowered her voice. “Look, I know this isn’t our business, and if you tell me to leave and forget all, I’ll do it and you won’t hear from me anymore. But I was nearby, and after hearing about what happened in January… I thought I could, dunno… check if she needed some help? Lend a hand, an ear?” 

Daniel’s face softened, and exhaled as he looked down. “Emma… was her best friend since they were kids. And then, after my… around two years ago, she just started to bully Taylor. Out of nowhere.” 

“Just like that?” 

“Taylor never told me, until this week. And I was not paying attention,” he said, a confession more of guilt than of a mistake. “My fault.” 

“I’m sure you didn’t mean for any of that to happen,” Gwen tried to reassure. 

Daniel’s mouth trembled, gesticulating without a sound for a moment. “We lost Annette. Taylor’s mother. Car accident. I couldn’t… couldn’t even take care of myself for some time. Much less of Taylor. Sent her to summer camp, and after that I thought… We’re back. We’re hurt, but fine. And turns out she’s been suffering in silence for a year and a half, and I didn’t notice any of it.” 

“Hey.” Gwen reached out, her hand on Daniel’s wrist. “I understand. I lost people too, people dear to me, in terrible ways. And I keep thinking what could have I done different to avoid it. Now, I only have your word, but from what I’m hearing, you are not to blame. You made a mistake. That’s all. We all gotta live with that.” 

Daniel smiled faintly, but it was clear to Gwen he didn’t quite believed that himself. Then his face turned to anger again. “This January, well. You heard about the locker, so I won’t go over that. But she barely had been laid down on her hospital bed after that, that Winslow sent me their lawyer: they’d pay the hospital bill that I couldn’t pay on my own, as long as we didn’t press charges.” 

Gwen pulled back. “Wait.” The hell. “What the fuck.” How even. “Why. Is that even close to legal?” 

“In Brockton Bay?” He snorted. “I don’t think anyone cares about that anymore. Besides, no one was coming out as a witness despite happening in public, and Taylor wasn’t telling.” 

Daniel leaned back. “We went shopping, days ago. I thought she was stressed with school, so I decided a little ‘us’ time at the mall might help. But we met Emma there and… Taylor just punched her, in public.” 

“Well,” Gwen said, “you know, when words don’t work anymore.” And considering Emma was still up and walking… If Gwen didn’t hold back when fighting normal people, she would have left a long trail of headless corpses. 

“At the moment I thought it was because of a head injury she suffered before. But she told me later about the bullying. It had kept going even after the principal promised me to look after Taylor. So we went to Winslow, to a meeting to try to fix everything.” He shook his head. “It didn’t go well. Terrible, in fact. So she stopped going to class.” 

“No wonder,” Gwen commented. Having super powers and lasting as much as Taylor did in that shit heap without lashing out? Someone was working miracles somewhere. “Wait. So that’s why my sis couldn’t find her at Winslow. Did you know?” 

“No. And when I found out it was, I think, the last drop.” Daniel looked up, raising a hand to his face. “I locked her inside the house. And I just… Look, I have anger issues. It runs in my family. It’s known. My friends know, my coworkers know Taylor know, and Annette was the only one to match me. But I swear anger was as far as possible from my mind then; I just wanted us to talk. And it was Taylor who started lashing out. I let her do it. Didn’t speak, didn’t move, I just stood there, while she broke down the kitchen, hoping that way she would get all out of her system… and she didn’t. She couldn’t.” 

“Daniel.” Gwen leaned in. “Where is Taylor?” 

Daniel lowered his hand to his lap, meeting her face with fear in his own, and then looked away a one door at the opposite side from where the front door was. From how she could see the sky outside through the glass in it, Gwen surmised it must have been the back door. 

“Can you imagine what’s to watch this happy girl loose the light in her eyes… until one day you just can’t recognize her anymore?” 

“Daniel,” Gwen insisted. “Where is she?” 

He looked back at her in despair. “She left. She left home and all I tried to stop her wasn’t enough.” 

* * *

She was enjoying herself, and _nobody_ would stop her newly boarded joy train. 

Still, as she entered the mall, Taylor couldn’t avoid realizing that convincing Brian to let her kiss him — which to be fair, she didn’t tell him about any kiss — in front of Sophia as a challenge to the bitch, well, it might not have been her brightest idea. 


	6. Chapter 6

“I guess this is where we part ways?”

“Sure. I’ll meet you in a couple of minutes.”

Taylor turned to her left, exhaling as Brian kept walking on deeper into the mall. The short moment alone on her own would help her think.

Taylor liked Brian. Somehow, Lisa and Rachel had both picked up on that, and they gave her roughly similar advice: go for it. Be assertive. Which was all fine and dandy. But Taylor suspected she wasn’t the kind of girl Brian liked.

And she had stolen a kiss from him to piss someone else off.

He could have interpreted it as her using him. He might yet do so. But fortunately, he had played along, putting an arm around her until their bus arrived at the mall. And Taylor had succeeded in causing a reaction on Sophia. She had also kissed him, of course. And didn’t that feel good on its own? She, Taylor, the pariah, kissing someone else and not being rejected. It didn’t just make her happy, it gave her a sense of serenity. If anyone else said they’d feel differently in her shoes, Taylor would call bullshit.

Unfortunately, with that kiss, Taylor had forced things between her and Brian. Now a very serious conversation was looming over her head, and she wasn’t looking forward to it. And that was why the short detour at the bookstore was so welcome. She was the sort of person who needed time to decide what to say in a conversation. But she couldn’t in front of Brian. She got too flustered, too awkward in front of him. She needed some time to sort her thoughts for the incoming conversation.

There was also the nagging feeling at the bag of her head, as she walked into the bookstore, walking behind the racks filled with old musty books badly organized in her search for something about dogs. It was less like a headache, and more like a buzzing. She couldn’t explain what it was, but she couldn’t shake the feeling that something bad was coming.

Fuck, it probably was just her getting too nervous, she decided as she answered back to the old shopkeeper’s call to not shoplift with an ‘alright’. It wasn’t like the Bay didn’t have a shortage of reasons to get you on edge anyway.

But at least, she had friends now… didn’t she?

* * *

With one hand in her pocket and another holding her phone, Gwendy stared at the television of the cafeteria with no small sense of dread. “Well, that’s great.”

 _“Actually, the image looks pretty small from up here,”_ Noir said. _“What’s so interesting?”_ He already knew what a television was, from the time they all first met on Miles’ world. But he was now watching from the empty balconies of the topmost floor. Even if he found a good angle to look at the screen, it would be difficult for anyone to actually see anything.

“Someone decided to out the nazi gang,” Gwendy said out loud, taking care of her words, but otherwise not worried that anyone would pay her any attention. She had been doing that for a while to talk with Noir, using her phone and her earbud to look as if she was using the handsfree function. She was also ready to record anything that looked remotely suspicious, at Octavia’s suggestion. “It’s all on the news. From the ones with powers to the pawns. Names, jobs, history, how to check ‘strange coincidences’ between identities…”

_“Very sad, I’m sure.”_

“I’m not going to cry for them either,” Gwendy admitted. “But this might cause more trouble than it’s worth. How would you feel if someone did the same to you, and added the names of your family to the deal?”

Noir kept silent for a moment. _“Right. And Nazis are never the kind to forgive and forget. This town might get mighty busy pretty soon.”_

“What, you’re not considering spending your vacations here, are you?” The screen changed to a press call where a suited-up man stood along with another in blue armor and a woman in fatigues.

_“Of course not, I have enough to do back home, but I wouldn’t mind lending a hand… wait, I just saw our lady.”_

“Really? Where?” Gwendy turned away from the screen and started to walk, looking around and trying to preemptively recognize Taylor among the people going to and forth. The kids and their parents at the children park, a crowd in front of an electronics shop, the patrons at the cafe, a small line at bus ticket booth…

_“She just went inside a bookstore behind — careful at your six!”_

Gwendy couldn’t avoid the collision. She barely felt the impact thanks to her strength, which explained why her spider-sense didn’t bother to warn her. Still, whoever she hit felt pretty heavy, so she acted like she lost balance, getting down on a knee.

“Sorry miss, I wasn’t looking,” a black boy apologized.

“Don’t worry, I wasn’t either,” she reassured at the boy, still standing over her. “I had my head on the clouds. My bad.”

He reached out to help just as Gwendy was getting on her feet. “Let me help you at least.”

“It’s fine, really,” she waved off politely once he was standing. She has recovered from worse, but that wasn’t something you discussed with Joe and Jane Schmoe in public.

She looked back at the face of the young man, his hair styled in cornrows. He was well built, probably from regular exercise, and dressed like a biker with his black jacket. He seemed to try to look like a bouncer, but he was betrayed by his face, too cute and young.

Gwendy was reminded of when she and Miles. Nerdy dorky Miles, with his ill-fitting school uniform, trying to play at being suave.

What were the odds it would happen to her again? In a different world? With another black boy?

… Nah.

To the credit of this one stranger, he was less flustered and more eyeing her phone. “I don’t think I have any right to tell you to pay attention around you, but should consider keeping that away. You’re practically giving away an invitation to rob you.”

“New Yorker’s grip,” Gwendy simply stated. She really didn’t want more of a distraction. “They’re welcome to try.”

The boy seemed skeptical, but shrugged, accepting the answer. He then looked forward, frowned, and started walking on with a jog. “Excuse me.”

Gwendy watched him go to the bus ticket booth line, which had now grown larger. “Right. A bookstore you said?” She turned around and localized the nearest one.

Then she saw Sophia walk inside.

And Gwendy had a gut feeling she wasn’t looking for a book.

_“Friend of yours?”_

She fastened her pace as she started a recording. “Sure as hell she ain’t Taylor’s friend. Tell the others to come. I might cause some trouble.”

* * *

Collapsing hard on top of a pile of books would be cause enough for most people to make some sort of pained noise. But while Taylor had her mouth open, forcefully so thanks for the fingernails stabbing into her cheek, pressing her face against the books underneath her. If that wasn’t enough, her breath had already been taken away when her ear was yanked, and the knee that was currently pushing against her side wasn’t helping matters.

This was to say, she had enough problems to even cry out anything that wouldn’t sound like the mewl of a constipated cat.

“Something you should know about me,” she heard Sophia’s voice. “The reason I’m such a good runner? It’s not that I’m driven to win. It’s that I really, really hate losing.” Another pull on her ear in a different direction made Taylor cry out. She tried grabbing at anything, but the books sliding beneath her made the task harder. “And I hate losing the most when it’s to a depressing queef like you.”

Taylor felt how her head was grabbed with two hands, lifted up, then smashed against the pile of books. Some of them were hardcovers.

Taylor had been hit harder before, but she had just healed from a concussion, and this wasn’t looking good.

She kept trying to grab ahold of anything.

Taylor felt one of the hands, the one on her cheek, move to cover her mouth. With that new grip, Sophia forced Taylor’s head to turn to the right the most it could.

Sophia was looking like an absolute maniac hungering for blood.

Powers or exercise, Taylor had grown stronger. She had learned a few things from Brian. But Sophia was bigger, stronger, and in better form than Taylor would ever be. It was also safe to say that Sophia was a goddamn lunatic, and completely uncaring of any consequences.

She didn’t like how this was going. There was one definitive solution to this problem, but it was the kind of solution that would bring more and bigger problems.

A row of fingers tapped hard against the lens of her glasses. “This is your reminder that everyone has their place in life, Hebert, and you should stick to yours. Trying to act better than you are only embarrasses you and irritates me, get it?” Another pull on the ear. “Nod if you understand, and I’ll let you run off home.”

Taylor’s fingers found hardcovers on the bottom shelf beside them. The kind you could use as an improv brick. Heavy and thick.

Taylor glared at Sophia, and pulled.

The book hit Sophia’s side, making her fall over, and Taylor flipped onto her back with another swing that sent Sophia away.

A small voice in her head was screaming that doing both moves restrained, one arm, and what looked like a big ass exhibition copy of Dante’s Divine Comedy just shouldn’t have been possible. Not the time. Taylor elected to ignore it, in favor to focus on Sophia, who seemed to have recovered in record time and ready to pounce at her.

Taylor threw the book at Sophia, but despite its considerable size, it went wide, missing the girl completely. “What the fuck is your derangement?!” Taylor shouted. “In what twisted perspective is it all right to stalk and attack someone because they kissed a boy?”

“Wow, that’s what started this?” a third voice said.

Before any of them could react, a blonde girl came up from behind Sophia. shoving her against the floor. Before Sophia could know what was happening, the newcomer had a knee on her back with a hold on her arms. One of her hands was holding a phone, but that didn’t seem to impede her too much.

Sophia tried to struggle without effect. “What the… you!?”

“Look at that, you can remember new faces,” the blonde said offhandedly. She wore simple jeans and sneakers, with a band shirt leaving her arms uncovered. She was thin, but with enough muscle definition in her arms that Taylor could buy she could deal with Sophia that way. “I knew you were trouble.” She then looked at Taylor. “How you feeling?”

Taylor suddenly became aware of her heavy breathing and the absolute pain in her ear. She checked on her glasses, which were hanging askew, form her good ear. There were also big fingertips on the lenses. “Who the fuck are you?” She asked as she did a quick cleanse of the lenses with her shirt.

“Right now seems like I’m your guardian angel.” Sophia gave out a laugh. Before she could say anything more, the blonde moved one of her hands to Sophia’s head, and with a small twist, she shoved her face against the floor.

Not as painful as part of Taylor would like, but it seemed to keep Sophia in place well enough.

The blonde smiled. It wasn’t like Lisa’s knowing grin; this smile was smaller. It could have felt intimidating in a ‘quiet but dangerous’ way, with the brow piercing and half her hair shaved down giving Taylor the impression of a delinquent. But it came as cordial and confident.

“Just call me Gwen, or Gwendy, but we can talk about that later. Can you go and get the - “

“What is the meaning of this?!”

They looked behind Gwendy, where the shopkeeper was glaring daggers at them. “Manager,” Gwendy finished. “Hey, sorry for the trouble, I just caught this girl assaulting my friend over there. Could you call security?”

The man turned to Gwendy. “I will call them on you, if you don’t release her right this instant.”

That caught the girl by surprise. “Huh, again, I’m really really sorry for the mess, but I caught her on video starting everything — still recording,” Gwendy said pointing with her phone hand at Sophia, who suspiciously wasn’t even grunting anymore. “Hell just look at her!” She pointed now at Taylor. "She's the one wounded!"

“I don’t care who started.” The man took a step forward, looming over Gwendy. “Now that everyone knows who you people are, you better learn to measure your actions, girl. I won’t tolerate violence in my shop.”

“Wait, what we how?” Taylor saw Gwendy try to follow the old man’s logic without avail.

Taylor had a bit more success, noticing the man was black just like Sophia, and the wording he had chosen.

He thought _they_ were with the nazis.

Shame, Taylor thought. It seemed like she wouldn't get that dogs book now.

* * *

In the end, Gwendy was forced to let Sophia go. The black girl didn’t waste any time crying to the shopkeeper a sad story of how the terrible white girls had laid her a trap, and the man had let her go, while keeping them in the shop.

She wasn’t sure if Sophia was an expert in victimizing herself or she was just that good in manipulating people, but Gwendy would be perfectly glad to never know any more about her.

At least she was sure now, Taylor was the spider. The moment Gwendy had met her, her spider-sense has buzzed in recognition, just like it did all the times before when meeting another spider.

That left one last issue though.

“It was about time you people learned you can’t do whatever you pleased.” The old man still kept going with his rant, despite having gone with it for several minutes already. “I’ll make sure you’ll get what’s yours.”

Gwendy sighed, more tired of the situation than anything else. She couldn’t argue her way past him. She actually could understand the man’s position, seeing as half of this town had been harassed by a nazi gang for decades. But they had places to go and things to talk, and he wasn’t helping.

Gwendy looked back at Taylor, who was standing behind her nursing her head in a hand. Not surprising, after the slamming she just got. Her ear and cheek didn’t look much better for that matter.

Deciding this wasn’t going anywhere, and that Noir wouldn’t be able to be of much help, Gwendy pocketed her phone and raised a finger as if to demonstrate a point.

“Well, yes,” she said while the man granted her a moment to speak up. “But, consider the following.”

Her hand moved towards Taylor’s.

And then Gwendy took them running, first past the man, who started immediately to shout at them, and then deeper into the mall, getting lost among the people.

Gwendy expected some resistance from Taylor during their run, for one reason or another. But as they neared one of the exits, she looked back and saw that Taylor was looking back to where they had come with an amused grin.

They slowed down as they crossed a door to the street, and Gwendy let go of Taylor’s hand when they stopped, half in heavy breaths and half in chuckles.

“Sorry for the surprise,” Gwendy said, “I would have waited for him to run out of fuel, but I don’t think you were in the mood.”

“It’s fine.” Taylor spotted a nearby bench and sat on it to catch her breath. “I’m worried about my friend, Brian. We were to meet in front of the bookstore.”

“Well, it’s not like we were subtle. You got another place to wait for him?” Her phone vibrated, and Gwendy took it from her pocket. In this world, she would only be getting messages from the app that Octavia and Pavitr had made her install.

“Yeah, at the bus stop just here.” Taylor then gave her a strange look. “Why did you do it?”

Gwendy frowned. “Do… what?”

“Help me. I mean, why did you care? How did you even know I was here?”

Gwendy blinked several times, surprised. “Well, besides the fact that you looked like you needed the help”, she started, prompting a raised eyebrow from Taylor. Was it that hard to believe? "Look, you’re Taylor Hebert, right?” The black-haired girl’s nodded. “You see, actually I had been looking around for you. And when I saw Sophia get in there after you… nevermind, it doesn't matter.”

Gwendy was ready to tell her if they could talk at a more private place, where she could explain everything about the spiders…

Then she looked down at the screen for a second, and read the messages Gwen had just sent to her.

_incoming_  
_keep her with u & safe_  
_runaway from home needs help b4 powers_  
_ill figure out how to deal wth her_  
_idk tell her the kids friend story just dont let her go_

Gwendy took a breath, closed the app, and returned the phone to the pocket.

She then forced herself to smile.

“Well, clearly you don’t remember me. But I know you from when we were kids…!”


	7. Chapter 7

Taylor tensed instantly. “What?” 

“Ok, ok.” Gwendy took a step back. “Bad opening. It’s just that I knew someone with that name, and you do kinda look like her.” She rolled her eyes at herself. “Look, I didn’t want to scare you, it’s just a big stretch anyway. Might be you, maybe not. If it is you, hey, all the better. But I’m glad enough I could be of help anyway, really.” 

Taylor didn’t move an inch while she listened to the other girl ramble, despite all her instincts screaming to run away. 

Could this be another of Emma’s tricks, and this Gwendy was in it somehow? Because why would anyone try to look for her on their own? She was a nobody. Ok, she won’t be soon, hopefully, but not yet. Would anyone look for her if they knew what she could do? 

Taylor was reminded of something ironic, something that Lisa told her about idiots that didn’t know her nor what she was capable of. 

_No, bad grin. You were dead. nobody wants you. Begone to your grave._

“But how did you know Sophia was after me anyway?” Taylor asked, trying to hide the unwanted smirk. 

“I’ve met her before. Well, rather I met this other girl she was shadowing, Emma. None of them looked exactly friendly.” Gwendy cringed. “Dunno what you might have done to them, but frankly, the way they seemed to enjoy putting you down. Nobody gets to act that shifty in public with a stranger, and actually be a good role model for the kids.” 

To her own surprise, Taylor’s smirk turned into a snort. 

Gwendy raised an eyebrow. 

Taylor cleared her throat, thankful that it gave her an out. “Emma wants to be a fashion model.” 

“Oh. Yeah. She looked like a tryhard.” 

“And she’s a bitch.” 

“I mean, I’ve only talked with her once, but, yeah. She made my whacko alarms ring like crazy.” 

“I mean, a good role _model_. it’s just…” Taylor shook her head. “Nevermind, it made more sense in my mind.” 

“Hey, you want to dance on their graves, you do it any way you can. Me, she tried to poach me for her personality cult before I ditched her.” Gwendy raised both hands and made a face. “Yeah no, I make a point to stay away from the crazies. 

“Anyway, finding you here was just a coincidence. I just happened to be around when I saw you go into the bookstore, and then Sophia following you. So I thought, hey, didn’t this weirdo said before how much she despises Taylor Hebert? Probably best to check things just in case, and, well.” Gwendy spread her arms to her sides. “Here we are.” 

Taylor wasn’t sure what to think. She was inclined to not buy Gwendy’s story. It was too strange, too much of a coincidence, and no matter how much Gwendy seemed to express a dislike her tormentors, it wouldn’t be the first time Emma would have sent a fake friend only to pull the rug from under her feet. 

But Taylor was forced to admit that there were too many random elements for it, even if Emma and Sophia had planned something just after the school meeting. And it wasn’t even Sophia’s style. No, she had made it pretty clear that it was personal, and if anything, Gwendy had only humiliated her. 

“Well, I don’t remember you… but thanks, I guess.” 

“You’re welcome,” Gwendy offered before frowning. “Your ear,” she said with a gesture to her own ear. “You’re hurt.” 

Taylor reached out and saw a bit of blood on her fingers. “Crap. Didn’t even notice. I’ll have to treat later.” She turned her head to give the other girl a better look. “Does it look bad?” 

Gwendy took a closer look. “Eh, I don’t think it’s a loss. And if it is, I could recommend some kick-ass piercings to hide it?” 

“Here you are.” Taylor turned to the mall entrance to see Brian, holding a plastic bag and frowning at Gwendy. “New York Girl?” 

Gwendy turned to look at him, slightly confused. “Heeeeey… Biker Guy?” 

Taylor looked between the two. “You’ve met?” 

“In a way,” Brian nodded. “Brian,” he told Gwendy, 

“Just a little accident,” Gwendy added. “Gwendy”. 

Brian then turned to Taylor and pointed at her ear. “You ok?” 

“Yeah. Remember the girl from before? She attacked me at the library. Gwendy just helped me.” 

“Damn. She one of the girls you told me?” At Taylor’s nod, he shook his head. “And you had an idea she’d react like this? That was way reckless, Taylor.” 

“Maybe we should focus on cleaning the wound first?” Gwendy interrupted, before gesturing with a hand. “Are you two, like friends or…?” 

Taylor doubted for a second before answering, which was enough time for Brian to turn around and settle it with “A couple? No, just friends.” 

Those three words were enough to knock the winds out of Taylor’s sails. 

It didn’t help that Gwendy had kept talking just as Brian replied with a “coworkers if you work nearby to get a first aid kit yeah ok nevermind I said anything.” 

Yeah, she definitely noticed Taylor’s own reaction. 

“Huh, yeah.” And now Brian looked like he realized what he had just said. 

And it’s not like Taylor was going to talk about it with a stranger in front of them. 

And so, they fell silent, stewing in the awkwardness. 

“No,” Brian continued, “but we can treat it at my house.” 

_God fucking dammit, Brian._

“So let’s say I am the Taylor Hebert you wanted,” Taylor said, desperately wanting to change the conversation. Not like she could imagine there would be more than one ‘Taylor Hebert’ in Brockton Bay. “What did you want?” 

“Wait, is that true?” Brian asked Gwendy with suspicions in his eyes, and Taylor could imagine why. Yes, the idea that someone might have discovered her little secret, and hence might have discovered his as well had also crossed her mind, even if there wasn’t any weight to it. Yet. 

“Oh. Well, that’s actually — “ Gwendy managed to say before a figure fell over the girl’s shoulders. 

Another blonde, taller than Gwendy, came up behind Gwendy, throwing her arms around over the smaller girl’s shoulder, and shouted. “I found you!” 

Gwendy’s eyes moved from the head brushing her cheek to Taylor and back and gave an awkward smile. “... My older sister?” She offered. 

Gwendy’s ‘older sister’ cocked her head with a wide smile and straightened up, though still hugging Gwendy. “That I am. Call me Gwen.” 

“Both of you are called Gwen?” Taylor frowned, not in small part because that buzzing in her head had returned, if only for a second. She hoped she wasn't developing a migraine. 

Gwen waved a hand whimsically and shrugged. “Mom didn’t know where she went wrong with me and wanted a redo.” 

Gwendy rolled her eyes. “Please don’t say that again in public. Or in private.” 

“Don’t worry, I’ll try harder to embarrass you the next time,” Gwen replied as she took her arms off her sibling, only to bring a hand up to Gwendy’s head to mess with her hair for a second. 

Whatever Gwendy looked and acted like, Gwen seemed to endeavor to crank it up a few notches. Their physical appearance was so amazingly similar that they looked like twins that had been separated in birth by a few years. The older sibling, maybe on her early twenties, seemed more confident and carefree though, and while her clothes were less grungy than her younger sister and still had all of her hair, the black leather jacket and spiked armband (even the hairband for some reason) made a strong case to support the implication that she was the ‘bad sister.’ 

Gwen then moved closer to Taylor and offered her hand. “You’re Taylor Hebert, right?” 

“Is she?” Gwendy asked. “I wasn’t sure of it myself.” 

“Pretty sure, yep,” Gwen replied. “Sorry, you’re probs weirded out.” She told Taylor. “I was the one to tell her to keep you here until I arrived.” 

Taylor accepted Gwen’s hand and shook it. “She helped me out, so I won’t scream for the cops, yet.” Or worse. 

“Oh, she helped?” Gwen said as she turned around to look at her sister. 

Gwendy blew on her nails and then brushed them against her shirt. “And I didn’t end up with my face on the floor like an idiot.” 

“That was one time!” Gwen turned back to Taylor. “Anyway. I’m sure you got questions. I’ve been wanting to have a chat with you if that’s alright.” 

“Depends, we were going to Brian’s house,” Taylor said. “For my ear.” At least he had given her an out. “What about?” 

“Aight, if you gotta go, that’s fine. Just give me a moment to explain first, please? Then you can go, and if you’re still fine with it, we can hopefully meet at another time. Maybe you might want your friend to step out of earshot for a bit, with my sister?” 

“That’s a lot of trust you’re asking for,” Brian retorted. “That or you’re pretty naive.” 

“Brian,” Taylor told him. “It’s fine. I’ll be fine.” She hoped. She swore, if she was getting into another fight, she wasn’t going to pull her punches again. 

Besides, she had been setting the cheap phone in her pocket to record the conversation so she could go over it with Lisa. And while she was doing it blindly and wasn’t sure if she had managed it, right now she didn’t want him to open his mouth again to say anything embarrassing, much less be kept for anyone else to hear. 

Brian sighed. “Alright, if you’re sure. The next bus is coming soon, so don’t wait too long.” And he walked out, far enough that. he might not hear a hush, but close enough to react if things went south. 

Taylor rolled her eyes. Any other moment it would have been even cute, but if this was Brian compensating for sticking his foot on his mouth, she wasn’t going to appreciate it right now. 

After a silent exchange of gestures between the two sisters, Gwendy followed suit. 

“Can I sit?” Taylor nodded, and Gwen sat with her on the bench at a respectful distance. She then started to talk slowly, taking care of choosing her words. 

“I’m gonna be straight with you on a couple of things, and I know they will upset you, so just hear me out, please. I tend to stick my nose in other people’s business.” Gwen raised a hand as if making an oath. “But I swear to Sandy West, my intentions are pure of heart and mind.” Sandy who? 

Sure, because everything else before saying that wasn’t ominous enough already. “I’m listening.” 

“Ok. One, I heard about what happened back at the start of the year. That’s what prompted me to look for you.” 

The locker, and all the shit before and after it. Brian already knew, but maybe Gwen wasn’t sure of that and didn’t want to tell without permission. To say that Taylor wasn’t amused by the subject after recent developments was an understatement, but props to Gwen for at least pretend to have some tact. Not something she wanted to talk about right now after the fight with Sophia. “Go on.” 

“Two, I didn’t know how else to find you.” Gwen made an apologetic face. “So I went to your house this morning.” 

Taylor took a heavy breath and exhaled. Slowly. “How is he?” 

“Well, I don’t know how he is normally. But he’s worried. Not angry, not disappointed. Worried. And he blames himself, not you.” 

“So what, you’re here to take me back?” 

“Oh girl, no.” Gwen chuckled at that. “Ok sure, he wants you to be back, but more than that, he wants you to be safe.” She leaned over with her elbows on her knees. “He said _you said_ you were staying with friends, but even then, I had to promise I’d try to find you. Well, I found you. 

“As for getting you home. I never was that estranged from my old man, but I’ve gone through something similar, I know some time away can help smooth things out. So no, I can intermediate if you don’t feel ready to come back home yet, but I’m not going to force you.” 

A moment passed without any of them saying a thing. Brian and Gwendy, still stood some distance away, both of them throwing some looks at each other and at Taylor and Gwen. Brian with more mistrust than Gwendy. 

“So, still good for a talk?” Gwen asked. 

Taylor crossed her arms. “What makes you think I’d want to talk about any of that, with anybody?” 

“I just want to help.” Gwen raised her hands to placate her. “I mean, I’d like to help with actions too if I knew how here, but figured you’d like a listening ear at least. Any place you choose, me alone, with someone you trust… I’d prefer it if it’d be both of us alone, but I know I’m just the stranger here. I won’t push it” 

“But why go through all this trouble? Why help me?” 

“I’ve been in tight spots too, before. I met a couple guys who heard of me, Sam and Billy, and they also tried to help me too, each in their own ways.” 

Taylor didn’t say anything for a while until she saw the bus coming from behind the other side of the mall. 

“Did that work for you?” 

Gwen snorted. “I went to jail. Sam had too much red tape tying her hands, and Billy… anyway, that wasn’t their fault. They and others stuck by my side in moments where nobody gave a shit for me though, and I want to think things are better for me now.” She shrugged. “Only fair I try to the same for others, right?” Her expression wavered. “I mean, minus the jail, of course.” 

The bus approached the stop and Brian gestured to it. 

“Just talking?” Gwen nodded. “Can I think about it?” 

* * *

The two girls walked away towards an alley across the mall as the bus moved away. “I thought you would take longer to get here,” Gwendy said. 

Gwen replied with a long exhalation. “I ran. I mean, I _really_ ran. I was still talking with Taylor’s father when Noir told us you found her on the other side of the city. And I still had taken a detour to get one of the local cellphones Octavia and Peni had procured.” She then cringed. “I’m going to eat soooo much celery and kale chips once I can get my hands on some. It’s all excitement and whooping until you realize your symbiote gets tired and hungry too.” 

Gwendy frowned. “Not trusting me to explain things to her? I felt pretty silly with that childhood friend story.” She stuck her hands into her pockets. “And dishonest.” 

“You want to do it next time we meet her? It’s all yours.” Gwen suggested, putting a hand on Gwendy’s shoulder and squeezing gently. “Sorry. It’s not that I don’t trust you. From what Noir said you seemed to be too busy already. It’d be hard to fill you in on what I learned from Taylor’s dad. I knew this was the best chance we could get, and I may have jumped the gun. My bad.” 

“Actually,” Noir said as he dropped down to the ground, followed by Octavia and Peni in her suit. “What I said is that you looked ready to raise some hell.” 

“Same thing,” Gwen commented as she took her pendant out. “Ok, guys. I know things have been kinda boring with this manhunt. But we’re doing fine. The reason I’m taking the slow way with her was part me not knowing how much that friend of hers knows, part not knowing how much _she_ knows and considering what we know, she’s definitely not gonna trust a stranger straight out of the gate. Taylor got the number for one of the phones Octavia got us, I got hers, and I’m pretty sure she’s going to ask to meet us soon.” 

“I can get that,” Peni said from inside the suit. “But what do we do now?” 

“We'll probably stick around to beat some of the local criminals until we're sure Taylor can take care of herself; Tavia and Pavitr also need to do their thing, so there’s that too. Right now we’re going to Loomworld. I already talked with Anya, and she and the others want to know what’s up.” Gwen almost pricked her finger with the pendant when a portal opened inside the alley behind them. 

The portals Gwen was capable of opening were small enough to let a couple people enter side by side, and a single random color dominated the spectacle. But this one was bigger and looked like a web trap made of rainbows. 

“The coloration and wave patterns are consistent with Annie’s portals,” Octavia said. “They’re probably expecting us.” 

Gwen put the pendant away and looked around. “You guys practiced your music? It’s always good to stay on your band lead’s good side.” 


	8. Chapter 8

Anya was already waiting for them as they came out of the portal into the cathedral. “Welcome back.” 

She wasn't alone. At her side was a middle-aged redhead in a white and pink costume. “Hi Gwen, good to see you again.” 

“Hey guys”, Gwen acknowledged and turned to the older woman. “Glad to see you too, MJ.” 

Having only briefly met her once or twice, Gwen didn't know much about Spinnerette, the Mary Jane Watson of Earth 18199. Only that she was Annie's mother, and that she wasn't a real totem, borrowing her husband's powers thanks to some technology in her suit. 

As for Annie, Gwen saw her wave a hand at them a distance. She was at the other side of the cathedral, seated at a table in a meeting along with her father Peter, Mayday, and uncle Ben, all of them seeming to be at an amicable meeting with four other people. Judging by their hair, three of them, looked like Osborns: a teenager, a young man, and an older woman. The fourth was a demure man with glasses and a lab coat that Gwen couldn't recognize. “Who're the guests?” 

Anya gave a glance to the meeting. “The younger two are Normie Osborn from Annie and Mayday's worlds. The woman and the man with her are Peni's uncle Ben and Harriet Osborn. MJ suggested talking with friendly versions of the Osborns for some support.” 

“Just a little enterprising idea”, MJ said. “This is just a meet and greet, and I wouldn't expect them to give us a blank cheque for whatever, but it only makes sense to find sympathetic people willing to help us be heroes and let them exchange anything that could benefit them and their worlds.” 

“Aww, did I miss the other Peni being around?” the currently present Peni interrupted with a pout, again out of her armor and sitting on top of it. “I wanted to meet her!” 

“She didn't come, she's usually too busy to do courtesy visits”, Anya explained to her. “But her uncle is pretty desperate for anything that could free her time for some R&R, or just allow anyone else to help Peni share her workload. Last I was paying attention, one of the Normies was mentioning something to buff up her armor, but who knows, maybe she'll be able to hang around in the future.” 

Peni pumped her fist in the air. “Yes! Peni squared is still on track.” 

“Anyway. Octavia told me you got good news about our new totem?” Anya said, focusing on the matter that brought Gwen and her team. 

“Actually yeah”, Gwen replied. “Took us a bit to look around, but her name's Taylor Hebert. She had run away from home, and I was talking with the father, not an hour ago”, she said as she brought her arm around Gwendy's shoulders, bringing her to attention, “when the kid just so happened to step into her and run to her rescue. All knightress in shining armor, from what I heard.” 

“It was nothing like that”, Gwendy shrugged, dismissive. Gwen was just poking some innocent fun, but she didn't miss her embarrassed eye roll. “I mean, it was more like running away with her from trouble.” 

Did Gwendy have some trouble recognizing when she had done something good? Gwen made a mental note to try and rectify that in the future as she withdrew her arm. 

“You say this Taylor is a runaway?” MJ asked. “What happened?” 

“We think she went through a long period of bullying that was ignored by the school”, Octavia answered. “Add a dead parent, and another who didn't recover from the loss fast enough to take notice of her life…” 

MJ nodded, understanding what Octavia was implying. “Many kids have left town for less. But you let her go? You should have just brought her in.” 

“It wasn't worth forcing the issue”, Gwen explained. “I've been a runaway too, and I could see she was just looking for the hidden camera or just any reason to bolt and run. Someone asking about her powers? She'd go straight into paranoia county. I plan to keep in touch with her, wait until it looks like she feels safe enough. If no one minds, me and the guys could stay around in Bet for a while. The place could use some help cleaning the trash, and we can make sure Taylor is safe. Besides, Gwendy seems to have hit off with her fairly well, and the guys get to practice working as a team.” 

“I'm in favor of spending a bit of time in town”, Noir said. “The nazi folks there can use some of what I preach.” He then brought his hands together at his waist, like a priest during a sermon, while a sudden gust of wind moved his coat. “And what I preach, is _pain_.” 

“Yeah, dramatics aside, it sounds good”, Peni added. “We'll have to work out a time frame, but we're all friends here anyway, right?” 

“Sure”, Gwendy agreed. “Might be fun.” 

MJ shared a look with Anya. “I don't mind about the rest, but I don't know… I still think we should just bring Taylor in.” 

“Look, just give me time”, Gwen asked. “She had a friend with her, and I didn't want to bring the subject in front of him in case she hasn't done so herself. We gave her a phone number and…” Gwen paused to think and turned to Octavia. “Hey, you think you could fix the cell phone you got me? I want her to reach me if I'm in a different universe.” 

“It should be easy enough to link your bracelet to the phone. I'll just need to give its operative system a look first”, Octavia answered before she took both objects from Gwen. “Peni, you have some skill in tinkering, right? Do you want to learn a bit of practical multidimensional engineering?” 

“Do I _want_ to?” Peni exclaimed, sitting straight. “You already had me at 'learn'!” The display in her armor emoted with a smiling grimace and a drop of sweat. 

Anya ignored the excited exchange. “Alright Gwen, if you think that's the best to keep Taylor safe until she's ready, I have no issue with all of you staying in Brockton Bay. I'll convince the others about it. You can intervene against the local supervillains as well; we were talking about contacting the local authorities soon, so be sure to play nice.” 

That made Gwen raise an eyebrow. “That's… something we do now? Collaborating with the establishment?” 

“I'll explain later. And talking about collaborating.” Anya turned around to the meeting happening at the other side of the ruined cathedral. “May, a moment?” she called out. Mayday looked in their direction and sat up, walking up to them as Anya continued. “Gwen, I'd also like to talk with you in private, if you got the time?” 

Gwen nodded. “I got no dates waiting for me.” She then turned to May as she arrived. “Hey girl, how have you been?” 

“Oh, real bored heroing wise, which means it's all good at home”, the short black haired teen said with a charming smile, her athletic physique decked in deep blue and red costume and her metal bracers. “But getting to know Annie makes up for the lack of entertainment. And you? No more rebelling against authority?” 

“Pshh, some, a bit, as a treat, when it makes sense”, Gwen shrugged with a back and forth waving of her hand. “I had other things eating my time, you know?” 

“May, they're talking about spending some time in Earth Bet as a team”, Anya explained. “I was thinking that you could spend time with the team and help Gwen.” 

“Sure, I should have time to spare.” May turned to Gwen. “And seeing you leading a team ought to be interesting.” 

“Oh, I can feel the trust”, Gwen joked. “You can make the hard decisions if you want, and leave the punching to me.” 

“Oh no, nothing like that, I want my first-row seat to watch you fail”, May said with a smirk, then beamed a smile to the entire group. “Seriously now, I'm sure you'll do fine. I'll be glad to help around.” 

“Alright then, _Ghost Team_ ”, Anya said to the group, driving Gwen to roll her eyes in amusement. Anya noticed it. “Hey, screw you”, she said, thankfully without any bite. “You want to try a better name on the spot, be my guest.” 

“No no, it's fine”, Gwen replied. “It's just weird being so formal. And nice. Reminds me of Billy.” 

Anya smiled, pleased with the comparison, and continued. “While you are in Earth Bet, you are to assist Octavia with her research, keep Taylor safe until it's clear she's able to fend for herself, and practice your teamwork in kicking supervillain ass. You can work out the details tomorrow. Everyone good with it?” 

The whole of the newly formed Ghost Team agreed in unison. 

“It's getting late”, MJ interrupted. “And I'm sure our new members will want to go back home.” She then turned to the group. “But before you leave, I can show you to your rooms. We've cleaned a few that people can use to rest. I'm afraid the best ones are already picked, but otherwise it's first come first served. Annie can send you home after that.” 

“Yeah, might as well if we're going to spend any time around”, Gwendy agreed. 

“I'll go with you”, May said when they agreed. “Some of those corridors are a real maze until we get the rubble cleaned, and we can get to know each other along the way.” She then turned to Gwen and offered her a closed fist. “Glad to have you aboard again, sister. I missed you goofing around.” 

“Same thing to you, buddy.” Gwen bumped May's fist with her own, and left her to walk away with her new teammates. 

* * *

Navigating the corridors of the cathedral wasn't too bad, Gwendy thought. The place was immense, true, but she was sure she wouldn't have much trouble with finding her way around. 

“These are big rooms won't be ready yet for some time”, MJ explained as they passed some of the doors with some significant separation between each other. “But we think they might work as barracks or infirmaries as needed.” 

“Expecting a lot of recruits?” Noir asked as they followed her and May. It was only him and Gwendy, as Peni and her spider had gone a different path with Octavia, saying she didn't mind waiting to pick a room until later. 

“Not really, just considering what we have to work with”, May said. “The cathedral might be in ruins at the upper levels, where the Web is housed, but the rest is mostly fine, and it's a _lot_ of cathedral. The locals may have the entire planet, but they want nothing to do with this place. So we get to keep it, and the unenviable work of making stock of everything inside.” 

“Why wouldn't they want the place?” Gwendy asked. “If it's still serviceable, and with such an important artifact in it, I'd expect someone to be interested.” 

MJ shared a look with May, apparently just as curious as Gwendy. May sighed. “It's kind of a long story; basically the previous owners, and by owning I mean conquering, also controlled the entire planet in this and many other universes. Most people living in Loomworld are transplants from these other worlds, brought as workforce or whatever. Now that they're free, they just don't want anything related to their previous masters. They're perfectly happy to let us occupy the place.” 

“Sounds like they were charming folk, these masters”, Noir commented. “Who were they? Are they still around somewhere?” 

“Nobody told you about the Inheritors yet?” 

Two heads expressed their shared negative. 

“Well, it's not like they matter anymore”, May said, slowing down as they neared the end of the corridor. “They were a family that had used the Web of Life to use the multiverse as their hunting grounds for millennia, hunting us spider totems and feeding in our life energies like a vampire sucking your blood.” 

MJ grimaced, fishing a keyring from a pocket. “If you needed an entire army of superhumans to put down a single vampire, that's it.” 

“And if that vampire got their mind transferred to a cloned body in a secure universe, to return fresh to the fight.” 

“Must have been a hell of a fight”, Gwendy said. 

“Fights. We scrambled every spider we could find to fight two wars of survival one after another”, May corrected. “We lost much, and… lost many.” 

Gwendy nodded in sympathy at the last words. She knew the sentiment in them too well herself. 

The doors were about a dozen of them now being more close to each other at this point. MJ and May opened them except for a few, allowing the newcomers to look inside. “As far as we can tell, most of these rooms were reserved for the more important servants and butlers”, May explained as they gave them the tour. 

“Some rooms are communal, and others are individual; four of those are already picked”, MJ added. “But they all have windows so you don't have to worry about closed spaces. We got a kitchen, a bathroom with showers, and a laundry. Everything is on the humble side, but the rooms are clean, the beds are dressed, and we have electricity and water running.” 

“Just remember, if you're going to put anything on the fridge, make sure it has your name on it. Ham tends to not think twice about eating anything he finds in there, and sometimes even if it has a name on it.” 

“A shower sounds mighty tempting right now”, Noir said. “This get-up isn't the most comfortable after a day under the sun in that blasted town. Which door is it?” He then started walking to the door May directed him to. “Thanks, lady.” 

Gwendy spoke up before he disappeared behind the door. “Not going to take a room first?” 

“We're not moving in, and any room is as good as any other. First pick is yours.” And with that, he closed the door. 

“Alright then”, Gwendy whispered. “Guess that simplifies things.” 

“Well, don't be in a hurry to choose if you don't feel like it”, May told her. “I don't think these rooms will be filled by the end of the week anyway.” 

“I was thinking about maybe one of the communal ones.” Gwendy held that thought. “Do you know if Gwen has already picked one?” 

“Huh, dunno, I don't think so”, May confessed. “Unlike the rest of us, she's pretty much free to go to any universe she wants at any time, so she can just go to her own house instead. Even before the Web was damaged, when everyone could use the bracelets for it, she only treated the cathedral as a meeting place” 

“Why would you want to share a room with her anyway?” MJ asked. 

Gwendy shrugged with some levity. “Well, if she's as much of a mess as I am, can we really be angry with each other?” 

May gave MJ an amused look. “Maybe she just wants to be with someone similar. Kind of like me and Annie.” 

For whatever reason, MJ seemed worried about it. “That's… not exactly why I'm asking. You know what she's done, right? And what she's carrying inside.” 

Gwendy blinked, not sure where this was going. “She told me she went to jail for murder. And yeah, she told me about the symbiote.” 

“And none of that worries you?” 

“Mo- MJ, what are you talking about?” May asked just as confused. 

MJ simply shook her head. “Forget I said anything, I'm tired. I'll go back to the main hall, make sure Annie will be available to send you back home in an hour.” She then began to walk in the direction where they have come from. 

“What was that?” Gwen asked once they were out of earshot. 

“I don't know. My mother is also an MJ, but I can't say I know this one in particular that well”, May said, and frowned. “Gwen never hid her troubles with the law or the symbiote from us.” She gave out a hum. “Maybe she is right about being tired; all of us have been up for days making sure things start being up and running. Just talking with the mayor about access to electricity and water was exhausting.” 

“That's fair.” Gwendy nodded, deciding that was enough of an explanation. “By the way, what's the door at the end of the corridor?” 

“Hmm?” 

“You said four of the rooms you left closed were already picked. That one makes five.” 

“Oh, that one”, May said, turning to that door. ”That's Anya's now, I guess. Nobody has gone into that one for a while, except her, and not many times at that.” 

“You make it sound like it's not hers. Or wasn't always.” 

“Well, you see, it was Billy's before.” 

“Billy”, Gwendy said, more a question than a statement. “Gwen mentioned him before.” 

May opened the door. Inside, Gwendy didn't see anything that made it more special than the other rooms. 

Except for the big Union Jack flag covering the wall opposite to the door, and the mannequin in one corner, dressed in a ragged and singed blue and red suit similar to those she had seen some Peters wear, but with the upper half being half of the same flag. 

“Billy Braddock, Spider-UK. He was a member of the Captain Britain Corps. They were the ones taking care of the multiverse before Billy went off to gather spiders for the first war against the Inheritors.” 

“And where are they now?” 

“Gone. All of them, Billy too.” 

“Damn. What happened?” 

“No idea about the Corps. I think Billy knew but didn't share it with us. I'd bet on nothing good if he didn't return to them. After our first conflict with the Inheritors, he formed the Warriors with the few of us who volunteered. He led and trained us the best he could. Pretty sure he wanted us to succeed the Corps.” May crossed her arms and drummed on one of her bracers with her fingers, silent for a moment. “When the Inheritors came back, he was the first one they killed. One second he was there, the next… he was on the floor with a broken neck.” 

“Sorry.” 

“Anya took it harder than the rest of us. Billy had taken her under his wing, grooming her to command the Warriors…” May smiled. “I like to think he'd be happy. I honestly didn't expect her getting us to start again after we disbanded.” 

May was silent for a moment before speaking again. “Gwen was the first one he took in, you know? You could say she was his first Web-Warrior.” 

Gwendy shook her head. “She didn't tell me anything like that.” 

“She was very independent at first, didn't listen to his battle plans. I mean, she was probably the most natural of us at this. When you see her fighting, you just knew she was born for it.” 

“C'mon, she was that good?” 

“On the offensive? I've seen some good spiders and with more experience than her in a fight, and let me tell you, she has it in her blood. But following battle plans?” May huffed. “What battle plans? She just kept doing her own thing, and it could be frustrating. Billy still kept her around no matter what. I guess he had hopes that she would rise above her instincts. She seemed to take his death harder than Anya, now that I think about it. Maybe he finally got something through her thick skull.” 

“You know, back there I noticed… Can I ask how old you and Anya are?” 

May was taken aback by the change of subject as she closed the door to Billy's room. “We're seventeen. Any reason to ask? That came a bit out of the left field.” 

“Just wondering. Everyone seems to treat you like adults. Gwen calls me 'kid', and I get why, but she seemed to treat you as equals.” 

“Please tell me this isn't a 'I want to be older' situation”, May pleaded with a small giggle. “No, no girl, it's just that we have gone through enough crap on our own and together that nobody questions what we can do.” 

“Such as? I get that Anya was trained to lead, but what about you?” 

May took a moment to think about it. “Have you ever fought a god one on one?” 

Gwendy opened her mouth and for a second she found it difficult to close again. “You… What. Seriously?” 

“It wasn't a pleasant experience. Experiences.” May shrugged. “But I got witnesses if you want.” 

“No need”, Gwendy declined. “I guess I'm stuck with being the 'kid' until I impress someone?” she groused. 

“C'mon, I get what you're saying, but you're overthinking it. We're all spiders here, nobody will do that. I'm sure it's just Gwen's way to show she cares. Stay in this business for a while, and you'll be sure to have a big moment on your name.” She pocketed the keys and motioned May to leave the place. “By the way, you and I might want to agree on new codenames. Anya will just go by Araña again, but it's going to be confusing to have several Spider-Girls, Women or Man around, and there are more of those that you'd think.” 

Gwendy made a non-committal sound, recalling a similar situation not that long ago. And after shouting at Noir that he had less than an hour to finish, they began the return to the main hall without exchanging any more words. 

Eventually, Gwendy broke the silence. “Say, before I go home, do you think I could visit another universe? 

* * *

It had been a long day for Miles Morales. But when he laid down on his bed, switched off his lamp, put on his headphones, and at last closed his eyes, he felt pretty satisfied with how it had gone. 

_Needless to say, I keep a check / She was all bad-bad, nevertheless_

It had been a crazy learning week, all things said. But he was glad now that he didn't give up during those first two days. Because now? Now he felt better with himself than he had for a long time. 

_Callin' it quits now, baby, I'm a wreck / Crash at my place, baby, you're a wreck_

“Miles?” 

That was weird. He had listened to this song like a thousand times and it never called his name. 

_Screamin' at my face, baby don't trip / Someone took a big L, don't know how that felt_

“Miles!” 

He opened his eyes, and to his surprise, it wasn't the walls or the ceiling that caught his attention, but a swirl of colors at the opposite wall, and Gwen Stacy waving at him. 

“Miles. You got a minute?” 

_Ooh-ooh, some things you just can't refuse / She wanna ride me like a cruise / And I'm not tryna lose_

He left his headphones hanging around his neck with a smile and checked that his roomie in the bunk below was still asleep. 

_Then you're left in the dust / Unless I stuck by ya_

“Girl, for you always, but next time you can just call my phone.” 

_You're a sunflower / I think your love would be too much_

* * *

After making sure no one was looking from either side of the alley (and yes, from the windows or the roofs, she had already learned her lesson), Gwen had changed into a shirt and ragged jeans. Now, she was waiting patiently for Anya to do the same behind a trash container. 

“You know, I may be projecting here, but for some reason, I had this idea that you weren't concerned with people knowing who you are.” 

Anya finally came out, her costume in a backpack and wearing black pants and a jacket. “Why, because I was with SHIELD once? Nah, I indeed had to register my public identity back then. But dad made sure they wouldn't make it public just because.” She then motioned Gwen to follow her out onto the New York streets of Earth 616 as she loosed her hair. “Come, it's just across the street.” 

Though she hasn't told her where they were going yet, Gwen was willing to wait and find out; she might have decided to turn it into her new home, but it wasn't the New York she had lived in. And while she could be quite precise with where her portals would open, she needed to personally know the place to do so. 

Her pendant, her 'Ticket to the Multiverse', might be miraculous by most standards, but unfortunately, it lacked a USB port or compatibility with most GPS devices. 

“Still... I guess you'd want to play safe. You know, with that Kamala law deal.” 

Anya gave her a curious glance before they joined the pedestrians. “You know, for someone who is not a 'local', I sense a lot of hostility in your tone.” 

“I might have been, huh.” Gwen coughed into her hand. “Unnecessarily vocal, when Peter told me about it. 

The recent Underage Superhuman Welfare Act, or Kamala's law, made it illegal for anyone aged under twenty-one to participate in acts of superheroism. It wasn't too long ago when Peter Parker let her know about it, and advised her that, as a minor in 616, she should lay low. 

And in turn, she, in somewhat diplomatic terms, had blown a gasket in front of him. And again just after that, when she talked about it with her father. 

Her belief that it was a stupid law hadn't changed, and her symbiote shared the sentiment. The issue was that she got angry enough to almost go full Gwenom on Peter and dad if only to shout harder at them. Thankfully, her father understood her position, despite disagreeing with her about how to handle crime (Gwen would offer help, can do it in a blink, no sweat. Captain Stacy would officially refuse, everything is under control, thank you. She would then politely disobey, and he'd politely insist they didn't need her, don't be late home for dinner, take care. Crack some perp heads, release some hostages, hmm dinner's great, dad. Why thank you dear, It's good that no innocent got hurt but please don't interfere again in police business, it confuses the rookies), and didn't mind her little outburst. 

But Peter was simply a messenger, and Gwen had already decided by then that she wasn't planning to do any hero work in 616 anyway. She probably owed him an apology the next time they met. 

Anya led her through a crosswalk to a neighborhood of apartment buildings. “Yeah well, I can't say I'm enthused by what they're doing. I heard Miles Morales is actively fighting back against it. But I barely had the time to operate here at home, between, you know.” A hand rose, waving back and forth. “Web stuff, you know. And if I wasn't at home, I was at school. So it hasn't affected me.” She frowned. “I know I sound like I’ve been ignoring it…” 

“Hey, you've been distracted. Nothing wrong with that.” Gwen was taking her time to observe their surroundings. She was seeing plenty of gardens and small parks. The apartments looked positively upper class, at least from outside. And judging by the landmarks she recognized, the zone was well situated near the center of New York. Nothing posh or anything, just a nice urban neighborhood. 

Anya might be the younger of the two, but if this was where she lived, Gwen liked it. Much better than her dorm she was currently housed at, for sure. “Weren't you in one or two groups, though? You guys disbanded or something, or they got arrested?” 

Anya thought for a moment before she shook her head. “Nah, that was some time ago and didn't pan out anyway. And from what I heard, they've avoided any trouble. I knew one of them, but she just… vanished. No phone calls, no government agents boasting about a capture, no nothing.” 

She wasn't saying, but it was clear to Gwen that Anya was dearly hurting about it. Gwen decided not to push for details. 

“What was that about working with the authorities in Earth Bet, by the way?” Compared to the populated streets they had left behind, there were so few passersby around them now that Gwen didn't feel the need for any more doublespeak. “Most spiders tend to have a rocky relationship with their local law enforcement. And this PRT doesn't look like they like parties any more than SHIELD.” 

“Back in their New York, Uncle Ben had the idea of checking things like archived newspapers in a public library.” Anya passed her phone to Gwen. “Read this. It's like that kind of public knowledge that's also taboo at the same time. They teach about it in schools and publish safety guidelines, but seem to also be afraid of jinxing it if they talk about it in public.” 

Gwen obeyed, reading what seemed like the guidelines or procedure to follow during a natural catastrophe. Expect an occurrence every three months. Warning sirens going off nationwide on a sighting. Citizens assigned to underground refuges spread through every city. 

Four names were provided for the source of so much fear and precaution. Behemoth, Leviathan, Simurgh. Endbringers. And there were measures tailored to each one. “Wait, what the hell is this? Giant monsters?” 

“The answer to that is the main reason why I want to contact their authorities. But whatever those 'Endbringers' are, they seem to be very powerful entities that are at least partially responsible for the declining state of their world.” 

“And you want to know, why exactly?” Gwen asked as she returned the phone. “To help?” 

“Can't say yet, but it could be big enough to be related to why those universes were hidden from the Web. And that's something that worries me enough to not discard any possibility. Annie, Octavia, and Pavitr will be doing their thing, but I'm willing to bet someone in the PRT or the Protectorate knows something important.” 

That made some sense to Gwen. The times she had seen the multiverse get screwed, it was an ugly business, and it wasn't obvious to the observer until you got muddled timelines and memories or a bunch of worlds collapsing on each other. She wouldn't criticize Anya for covering all her bases. 

In any case, that wouldn't be Gwen's problem to solve. That would require brains, and she was merely the muscle here. “So you're being thorough, here.” 

“It's like my father used to say. You can't get or do a good story without embedding yourself in the dirt.” A saying that Gwen, as a cop's daughter, agreed with. Anya stopped at one door, and Gwen looked around while the Latina teenager fished a keyring out of her pocket and used it to open the door. “And trust me here, Gwen, I'm smelling so much dirt there you can't believe how bad it stinks.” 

She stepped into the lobby and held the door open, inviting Gwen to enter. “Anyway. I told you I'd speak with SHIELD. I got good news, and bad news.” 

“Hit me first with the bad ones I guess.” After Gwen came inside, Anya closed the door and led the way up a staircase. 

“So, I can't talk with SHIELD. I did speak with Tony Stark for different reasons, and -” 

“Tony Stark?” She wasn't fond of the man back home on Earth 65, but rich jerk or no, Gwen knew he was an Avenger in 616, and technically he was paying for her scholarship. She was willing to forget her preconceptions. “Why would you talk with him anyway?” 

“I'm not a regular or anything like Jessica or Peter, but you could say I'm welcome at the Avengers headquarters since one time that we helped each other.” Anya chuckled, not minding being interrupted. “Back then he took the time to give me some advice, so I wanted to see if he could give me some more now because what I want to do with the Warriors is somewhat similar to the Avengers. Still soon to tell, but turns out he's intrigued enough in what we're doing that he might be willing to provide more help than just some practical wisdom.” 

“Damn girl. First the Osborns, now Stark. Talk about networking. You aren't turning into a soulless corporate capitalist, are you?” 

Anya gave out a laugh. “Shut up, I still have to ask you about contacting _your_ Osborns. Anyway, from what Tony told me, SHIELD was dissolved just after our first conflict with the Inheritors”, Anya explained. “I didn't realize it had happened because I was focused on the Warriors. Point is, there's nothing I could get you from them anymore. Sorry if I got your hopes up.” 

“Eh, I'll survive”, Gwen said when reaching the first floor, and she followed Anya down a corridor. “Did you mention my name to him or something? Given he's paying for my scholarship for being 'dimensionally displaced', or maybe Peter and Jessica dropped my name around him…” 

“I did mention you, but I'm not sure if it rang any bells for him. Tony wants to visit Loomworld and the cathedral, see how we are organizing ourselves and what we have. After that, maybe we can discuss if there was anything he could do. Dunno, like giving a small extra to your scholarship.” Anya stopped at a door, then introduced a key into its lock and opened it. “But he suggested that, if you'd be working directly for me, I should try first to compensate you myself.” 

“Wait.” Gwen's eyes darted from Anya to the door and back. “Are you saying-” 

The door now wide open, Anya offered her the keys. “I got a free room if you want to take it?” 

Gwen's eyes were fixated on the keys dangling in front of them. “You want me to… be your roommate?” 

“Well, second roommate”, Anya admitted with a shrug. “I think you'll like Rockie, she already knows that I'm Spider-Girl and is very supportive of it, so you can feel free to not hide your identity here. Point is, I have a spare room, you need a place to stay, so I thought, hey, why not.” 

“And you can afford it? Just like that?” 

“Before dad…” Anya paused, uncomfortable. “Before dad died, he had already paid fully for the house. He left it to my name with nothing left to pay. And because he was such a good friend of the Fantastic Four, Sue Storm and Reed Richards left a sizable fund for me.” 

“Coolest godparents ever”, Gwen said with no small amount of envy. 

Anya tilted her head in smug agreement. “I have no economic worries, and I'm the queen of my house. Your diet and your privacy won't be a concern. So I'll ask again.” She kneeled now offering the keys again as if she was presenting a ring. “Gwendoline Stacy”, she said a lot of fake theatrics, “do you want to be my roomie?” 

“Anya Corazón, that's possibly the most beautiful thing any girl in the multiverse has ever said to me.” 

* * *

Taylor waited patiently, though not idly. After leading her to the guest room, Brian had left to phone his sister. Leaving her alone with a bed to dress on her own and her cellphone on the bedside table with the speaker on. 

_“Alright”_ , he heard Lisa's voice coming from the phone. _“I've gone over that recording a couple of times already.”_

“So what do you think?” Taylor asked aloud. 

_“I think they're being sincere with you. At least for the most part.”_

Taylor pinched the bridge of her nose before dressing the pillow. “That sounds awfully trusting of you.” 

_“And I could say that sounds awfully untrusting even for you”_ , Lisa replied, _“but I don't think that's an argument I'd win.”_

“I'm serious, Lisa. These girls show up just at the very moment I need help, admit to stalking me and dad, and then just offer me to 'talk'? And they do that now? No, I don't trust them.” 

_“Taylor, we have to work on your definition of 'stalking'. And how do you think one would try to find someone if they don't know even the most basic information?”_ Taylor heard a sigh through the speaker. _“Was what I did to contact you any different?”_

Taylor hesitated before replying. “Well, yes?” 

_“But only because I had extra help. Everyone else is stuck with doing it the old way.”_

Taylor laid the pillow over the bed, finally done with it. “Fine. But you have to admit it sounds fishy.” 

_“Taylor, I wasn't there. This recording doesn't have the best sound, so I'm sure there is a lot I'm missing.”_ Taylor took up the phone from the table and to her ear. _“This Gwen is giving you a lot of freedom about how you want to meet her. You don't do that if you're intending to gain a benefit.”_ Another pause. _“You wanted my opinion, Taylor. I think she does want to help you. I think she wants to be your friend.”_

“You say that as if I needed any of that.” 

_“Please, Taylor, we both know why you joined us.”_ Despite the shivers, Taylor forced herself to not make any noise. _“Fuck, you misunderstood me, girl. I mean you can't just rely on us to make up your entire social circles. Look, how bad could it be to talk with her? If you want, I'll accompany you, and if I see any red flags… well, it's not like you can't defend yourself, or the rest of us can't cover you. And if she's truly friendly, and I'm pretty confident she is, wouldn't that be a good thing? Friends are a luxury in this time and age. You know that.”_

Taylor bit her lip. Lisa was making some sense putting it like that. “I'll think about it.” 

_“Of course. I suggest you decide sooner rather than later. It's not nice to leave a girl waiting.”_

“Please”, Taylor said with an eye roll. “Even if that would be the case, Gwen is too old for me.” 

_“Oh no, I meant Gwendy. Way you told me, that was some real knight in shining armor power moves she pulled. Good night, Tay, tomorrow will be a busy day.”_

Lisa cut the call at that moment, giving no time to argue. 

And she was pretty sure she could hear the smugness in Lisa's voice at the end. Taylor genuinely had no idea why. 


End file.
